Biden's American rescue plan isn't

A hike in the minimum wage for federal workers to $15/hour is in Biden's American rescue plan. Don't fall for it. Only a tiny percentage of Americans work for minimum--it will make no difference, except for reluctance to hire inexperienced, slow workers. First minimum wage law was passed under FDR during the Great Depression. Threw many black families out of work; before that, blacks had lower unemployment than whites. They used their labor to outsmart the white workers and could bid low for jobs when everyone was desperate to work. Before government "help" blacks also had a higher marriage rate than whites. Now it's low for both. Black men had a higher marriage rate than white men until 1950, and black women had a higher marriage rate than white women until 1970. This affects education, health and wealth of children. And look at the government programs that ran amuck with the "War on Poverty." Liberals will blame the war on drugs and prison rates, or advocate for more education, but I blame the government's "help."

"The flagship of the New Deal was the National Industrial Recovery Act, passed in June 1933. It authorized the president to issue executive orders establishing some 700 industrial cartels, which restricted output and forced wages and prices above market levels. The minimum wage regulations made it illegal for employers to hire people who weren’t worth the minimum because they lacked skills. As a result, some 500,000 blacks, particularly in the South, were estimated to have lost their jobs." Cato Institute, Dec. 3, 2003

The Minimum Wage: Enemy of Blacks – The Future of Freedom Foundation (fff.org)

On The Historically Racist Motivations Behind Minimum Wage (forbes.com)

https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/minimum-wage/2020/home.htm?

The Oscars 2021

Oscar ratings went from
57.2 million in 1998
to 43.7 million in 2014
to 23.6 million 2020
to 9.8 million 2021

Movies no one wants to see and lectures no one wants to hear from very self-important people no one respects.

Comparing apples and oranges and getting racism

In 2018, African American women were 50 percent more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic white women. 80% of Covid victims have been overweight or obese. They also have higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. But the higher rate of Covid among the black community is called--you got it, RACISM. 

Should the government step into the homes of black families and supervise what they eat? In 2018, African Americans were 20 percent less likely to engage in active physical activity as compared to non-Hispanic whites. Should the government step in and put blacks on treadmills and force them into jogging and running? Black female American children are 24.1% obese compared to 10.4% of white female children. Should the government step in. 10% isn't a good rate either--do we just want "equity" for this health problem?

My BMI is too high, also. I've been battling the bathroom scale since I was 21. I've probably lost over 100 lbs the last 60 years, and if you think losing weight at 25 is hard, just try it at 80! But I'm not asking the government to take over my life, and I certainly don't blame my ethnicity and ancestors (Irish-German American, whose ancestors arrived before the Revolution).

Here's how I would set up a health research project. If 50% of black women and 38% of white women had the same problem, I wouldn't rant about DISPARITY and RACISM to make the evening news. I'd look at what the 50% of the black women were doing who didn't have the problem and compare to the 50% who did. Income, education, marital status, personal life style, smoking, alcohol, drugs, number of children, religion, exercise, and so forth. That's how to do research. That's how to change lives. Adding an MSW to your research team and getting published in JAMA isn't worth it if you can't make some progress with the target group.

Dry Bar Comedian for us old folks

https://fb.watch/56vTMI9reC/

Ross Bennett, comedy that is clean & politics-free!

Climate alarmists are misleading the country and the world

There is no climate catastrophe, unless you see trillions being wasted on a correction as the problem.

There is no climate emergency - Washington Times

Paris climate promises will reduce temperatures by just 0.05°C in 2100 (Press release) | Bjorn Lomborg

There is no climate emergency, say 500 experts in letter to the United Nations | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Wrong Again: 50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions - Competitive Enterprise Institute (cei.org)

Al Gore's Doomsday Clock Expires & Climate Change Fanatics Are Wrong Again | National Review

The most recent claim from the purveyors of climate catastrophe is that recent temperature increases are “unusual and unprecedented.” However, records indicate that modern warming began more than 300 years ago in the depths of the horrific Little Ice Age. The first 250 years of that warming preceded 20th century CO2 increases and were necessarily 100% naturally driven.

Solar panels from China are made by slave labor, same with the giant ugly wind mills covering our prairies. But Biden invited them to the climate meeting so he could cave to their demands. Putin and Xi Jinping took time off last week from attacking Ukraine and Hong Kong to attend on zoom. Sweet. Did Biden give away the store--we'll see.

Immune system and Covid

Today I saw a celebrity on TV advertising a healthy lifestyle for combating Covid--better nutrition, lose some weight. Improve immune system. Just like zinc and Vitamin D and Vitamin C. I wonder if that is a heinous crime under HR 133?

The FTC is charging Eric Nepute and Quickwork LLC in a federal court for the heinous crime of advertising zinc and vitamin D to combat covid-19. Gasp. Isn't it good to know the gummit is looking out for dangerous characters while it ships unvaccinated illegals around the country with no testing or mitigation.

In HR 133, according to CLG News, Congress gave the FTC authority to target, arrest and fine anyone who doesn’t follow the government's narrative on lock downs, masks, quarantines and vaccines. Anyone who promotes a healthy immune system can now be charged and fined for the "criminal" act of helping people treat and overcome respiratory infection.

 
So I looked at HR 133. You could pass out reading about billions here and billions there for all manner of things.

Does Wright bear any responsibility for resisting arrest?

Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called for “no more policing, incarceration, and militarization” following the killing of Duante Wright by a police officer. I wonder if she means that. No Capitol police to guard her? No private security for politicians? No security in her apartment building in DC? No drug busts at the airports and other ports of entry? No police to investigate and bring to justice the murderers of 7,851 blacks in 2017? No police to track down and stop the rapists? Does she read the Uniform Crime Reports? Does she care about victims and their justice? All because 9 unarmed black men fleeing from or fighting police were killed in 2019 out of over 61 million contacts with police. In her state of Michigan the Racial Justice Project of ACLU Michigan wanted more transparency in traffic stops so justice for blacks could be guaranteed. What they found is that blacks were 17% of all traffic stops in 2017, nearly 19% in 2018 and more than 20% in 2019. But somehow the percent of stopped drivers--usually young men--should line up with demographics, which includes children and elderly. So how will black families and businesses be helped by no policing of drivers? Or middle east angry immigrants who live in Michigan? Due to Covid there were fewer people on the road in Michigan (isn't it still on lockdown?), police were making fewer stops, and more people died than in a year with normal traffic, according to this. https://www.freep.com/.../michigan-traffic.../3505170001/ Seems with fewer cars there was more speeding, and no one to stop them. So perhaps that's what Tlaib wants?

"King James" takes down his tweet about Columbus girl

LeBron James put up a tweet suggesting that the Columbus officer who saved 2 black girls from being stabbed should be taken out--posted his photo. Then when the video of the crime scene proved him an idiot, he took it down with this excuse.

  

Washington Post reported the 2019 stats. 9 unarmed blacks were killed by police; 19 unarmed whites were killed by police. You only know about the blacks because the media are making money off their deaths. Ghouls. Considering that the crime rate for young black men is 6x higher than for white men, which group is more often killed? There are millions of encounters (61.5 million, more with whites than blacks) between police and citizens/non-citizens in a year. Traffic stops and domestic violence calls probably put their lives in danger every day. Being killed by police rarely happens to either white, black or Hispanics unless they are avoiding arrest, and they aren't under suspicion for a crime unless someone has contacted the police. Someone had called police about the 16 year old attacking people with a knife. LeBron needs to stick to bouncing and throwing balls for a living because he wouldn't last a week on the police force. If he really wants accountability, read the crime reports.

In the prior 12 months, as of 2018, among persons age 16 or older—

About 61.5 million residents had at least one contact with police.

Twenty-four percent of residents experienced contact with police, up from 21% in 2015.

Whites (26%) were more likely than blacks (21%), Hispanics (19%), or persons of other races (20%) to experience police contact.

There was no statistically significant difference in the percentage of whites (12%) and blacks (11%) who experienced police-initiated contact BJS NCJ 255730

https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=7167 Check data table 1 for race and sex differences in police contacts.

LeBron James has a gazillion dollars, but won't criticize China which actually has slaves, but he will demonize his own country. He'd probably loose his "franchise" if he had to tell the truth about race in America. I can't believe he calls himself "King James." He was probably watching NBC which edited out the knife in the video they showed their viewers.

Stay strong, be informed

A few of my favorite sources to help you stay strong. However, you do need to catch CNN and the alphabet media occasionally so you understand their lies and arguments and know the insipid gruel and pablum half of America are living on. These hosts are not think-alike weaklings. All moderates. What are your favorites?

GoodFellows (Hoover),
Candace Owens,
Victor Davis Hanson,
Dave Rubin (Rubin Report),
Dennis Prager (Prager U),
Tucker Carlson (Fox),
Glenn Beck (BlazeTV),
Heritage Foundation,
Hillsdale College,
Jordan Peterson,
Hoover Institution,
Zuby (black English rock musician/body builder with a political show),
Bret Weinstein (liberal who refused to be bullied and was fired from academe),
Matt Walsh,
Dinesh D'Souza,
Young America's Foundation,
Michael Knowles,
Ben Shapiro,
EWTN News, (World Over with Raymond Arroyo)

What is Black Lives Matter about? Marxism.

What is BLM really about? It's not race, so stop thinking "civil rights," or even "equal rights." It's about POWER and MONEY. Simple. Clarity. No different than the Reformation, or the Crusades, or even our own 18th century revolution which wrested the power from England and enabled the richest nation in the world to develop. The little guys get hurt, and the power brokers walk off with the fat purse.

 
This video is a tiny introduction to BLM, so take 3 minutes to be informed, to see what's really going on. Then you can trash all the nonsense you see in the liberal media and social media about "white supremacy" being the problem of the unrest. A recent report on white supremacy by Washington Post couldn't locate any problems on the Left, even with cities burning all last summer and Portland having regular explosions and attacks on police and federal buildings. Do you really think all these corporations are suddenly as "woke" as the college administrators? Now there's your "white supremacy." 

• Coke, MLB, Delta trying to destroy millions of jobs in black Georgia and taking the power and money to white Colorado. 
• If there weren't a pot of gold at the end of the trans/gay/black rainbow do you think they would give a flying fig? 
• Do you really believe that 3 white teenagers with rifles driving around in a pick up are destroying thousands of small businesses and the livelihoods of their employees? 
• Why do you think the SC story of a black former athlete killing 6 whites, including 2 children, disappeared overnight, yet the Columbus story of a policeman saving the lives of two black girls when he shot a third continues to make the rounds of the news? One story doesn't sell, doesn't meet the narrative, and the other does. 

Stop believing a pack of lies by WaPo, NYT, LAT or the Columbus Dispatch; unhook from CNN and MSNBC. You've got the evidence; you have a brain. Find the independent journalist or reporter with a camera and a voice and dig in or lose your country.

https://youtu.be/8J68p5l-gjQ

NBC edited video of knife attack in Columbus

I don't understand why some media sources deliberately mislead the people who trust them for information. NBC destroyed its credibility on the recent stabbing incident in Columbus that resulted in the police shooting to death a 16 year old girl attacking other young girls in a suburban neighborhood. Based on the Twitter lynch mob, including Valerie Jarrett, only some black lives matter, and the two girls being attacked didn't matter. It's clear on the various videos what was happening, yet NBC edited out the knife! NBC did a similar edit on the George Zimmerman case too. The day before the Columbus incident a 13 year old girl was killed by another 13 year old, also by knife, in Cincinnati. The media didn't care about that child because no one was killed by the police. But she's still dead! 

Knives are lethal weapons, and the fact that the assailants are still children doesn't change the danger to the victims. The media are after ratings, they ignore crimes if they do not have a racial angle they can blow up. I believe in capitalism is a good system, but I also believe there is ill gotten gain, So, actually, I do understand why NBC did it--profit.

Nolte: NBC News Caught Deceptively Editing Columbus Shooting Video and 911 Call (breitbart.com)

The Breitbart reporter had a more sinister view on why NBC did this.  

"So why would correspondent Kevin Tibbles, anchor Lester Holt, and NBC News broadcast something so transparently manipulative, inciting, and dishonest?

The answer is obvious: They want to start another wave of race riots; they want to see more Democrat-run neighborhoods burn to the ground.

There is no other rational answer."

Violent crime rates going down

Fifteen unarmed black men were shot by police last year (and that usually doesn't happen unless a crime is taking place). However, about 48 police were killed by criminals (40 white, 7 black, 1 Asian). Obviously, since the number of police is far smaller than the number of young men (the usual demographic), the rate of violence against police is far greater than rate of force against men (usually men). These figures are always disputed, and for some reason the hyperbole is based on total population of blacks (13%) rather than the demographic of 17-40 . And if you want demographics, Hispanics, which is the largest minority in the country, generally have lower crime rates than either whites or blacks.

 Checking victim rates makes more sense--victims are all ages and sex and race. NCVS statistics identify the victims and the offenders. Black victimization is far higher in number and rate, even with a much smaller population. And usually the offender is the same race, and victims can identify them.
The overall rate of violent victimization from 2005-2019 fell 26% (from 28.4 to 21.0 victimizations per 1,000 U.S. residents age 12 or older). However, the rate fell more for blacks (43%) than whites (24%) . Ask yourself, why defund the police if they've been able to reduce the death and violence among blacks? Sounds like another anti-black plan of the Democrats.

Is this crime decrease ever celebrated? That crime has gone down for all races under 3 difference Presidents? Democrats will never concede this. It doesn't fit their narrative that the U.S. is a dangerous, racist, hateful place.

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvre0519.pdf

Good old Joe flogs a dead horse

Although I don't believe in the myth of systemic racism, I do believe the Democrats have been a leader in the problem. Now they see it as something they can't define, or eliminate, but which they can flog like a dead horse, hoping to spread the stench for political gain. Therefore, it was odd to hear Joe Biden condemning the whole country for being racist, right after the trial of a policeman in a Democrat run city who had contributed to the death of a black man on drugs resisting arrest, and who had received a fair trial and was found guilty on the 3 counts. Biden and Harris should have been celebrating the system, not demeaning it. Are they disappointed that the city didn't again go up in flames with more black men killed?

 
If ever someone in the White House was a representative of "the system," and the "deep state," and the "swamp," it's Joe Biden. Forty seven years, I've heard, and he's contributed to every racial disaster and downfall that government has been able to produce. He took home the pork that devastated black neighborhoods or hurt black businesses with the interstate system. He took money from teachers unions which kept black children perpetually behind. He rushed to ignore the needs of black neighborhoods by jumping on the feminist, gay and trans bandwagons as "civil rights" movements. He helped destroy the lives of untold millions of black children before they could see the light of day, with 34% of abortions which he supports being for black women. With special grants and loans, he got black youth to prepare for dead end jobs in government so the Democrats could have a power base subservient to them. He sold his soul (and son) to China and Ukraine, which will damage every man, woman and child in the country regardless of race, ethnicity or political party.

Yes, Joe, tell us more about what racists we all are because Chauvin got a fair trial which was guaranteed him by our laws which you've sworn to uphold.

Stool testing

 This is not a topic I usually write about--I know nothing about it.  But I've been following Lucy for some time--because I started a class on the microbiome.  It was so gross (in my opinion) I dropped out, but did learn a lot and still think it's an interesting topic.  Her specialty is the gut microbiome.

Episode 172: Stool Testing with Dr. Lucy Mailing - Phoenix Helix

Dr. Lucy Mailing is a research scientist specializing in gut health, the microbiome, and nutrition science. Her stool testing expertise comes from both her graduate school training and her clinical practice. In graduate school, her research focused on the impact of diet and exercise on the gut microbiome. She employed a wide variety of stool testing technologies in her research and understands the science deeply. In her clinical practice, she analyzes stool testing reports with the goal of maximizing her client’s health.

FDA trafficking in aborted baby parts

"Last week, legal accountability group Judicial Watch dropped a bombshell: a nearly 600-page report proving the U.S. government has been buying and trafficking “fresh” aborted baby body parts. These body parts, purchased by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to “humanize” mice and test biologic drugs in scientific experiments, came from babies up to 24-weeks-old gestation, just weeks from being born." 

So let that sink in and then read the rest of the article.

FDA Caught Buying 'Fresh' Aborted Baby Body Parts From Dealer (thefederalist.com)

"When an ABR employee reassured the FDA they were working with doctors who performed late-term abortions, he admitted some tissue was unusable from a procedure that injects a poison called digoxin into the baby, destroying its cells and tissues. Once the chemical has done its work, an intact, dead baby is delivered. This method makes fetal tissue specimens unusable in experiments; with digoxin off the table, the likelihood partial-birth abortions were used is sickeningly high."

The contracts between ABR and FDA which began in 2012 were stopped by the Trump administration out of concern for the legality. I suppose Biden will undo that Trump accomplishment too.

One Preacher’s Word to the Laity of North Georgia UMC:

I don't live in Georgia and I'm not a Methodist.  Our summer home is in a Methodist community and from time to time we do hear the ripples of concern about what's going on in that denomination. Rev. Lathem addresses the problems of many churches, businesses, families, academics and others. This is a timely message for all Christians. Some years ago our ELCA congregation and the synod went through the open sexuality issue for some of our clergy who had agreed at ordination to remain celibate which the synod was pushing.  Ours created with many others a new synod (NALC) for Canada, U.S. and Mexico, more conservative on many issues, including abortion. The transgender issue and gay marriage wasn't even being discussed, at least as far as members knew.  I'm sure insiders did.

Rev. Warren Lathem:

"Tonight [April 19] our North Georgia Bishop will address the laity of the Annual Conference. This presentation will be live streamed to those who pre-registered. I shared the link a while back and encouraged the laity to attend the meeting. If you did not pre-register, it will be made available at a later date, I am told.

 
I think it is important for the 400,000 or so laity of North Georgia United Methodism to hear and know what is this bishop’s agenda. Correctly understood, I believe the majority of Georgia Methodists will not be supportive.

 
However, the caveat is, “correctly understood.” Do I know what she will say? Of course not. However, I do know what she has been saying since coming to this Conference. I know much of what she has recently said to the clergy in a similar presentation. I know what she has recently published.
Further, I know much of her advocacy will be around the full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ in the ranks of the ordained clergy and the support for welcoming them “to the table.” This will show itself as the major presenting issue and will make it appear that anyone who does not support this agenda is unloving and unwelcoming. It will be clear that those of us who think of ourselves as Traditional are guilty of breaking Mr. Wesley’s rule of “Do no harm.” In the name of love she will, I suspect, embrace one while excluding the other at this big table.

 
There are a few problems with this, as far as I am concerned. First, it is the assumption that those of us who have voted for years to reject the ordination of practicing homosexuals and the ritual of same sex marriage actually hate the people impacted by our theological position.

 
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of us have family members, fellow church members, dear friends and colleagues who self identify as those we supposedly hate. Yet we love them, welcoming them into our homes and lives and ministries. We simply reject these two aspects, same sex marriage in the church and ordination. We believe in their equal civil rights. And further, many of us have actively sought to minister with and to them.

 
The language which identifies us as “haters” and “bigots” (I do not think the Bishop will use those words) is painful to us as it completely mischaracterizes reality. Here I simply give one personal example.

 
In the 1980’s the AIDS Epidemic was raging exclusively (as far as we knew then) through the homosexual community. Often they were treated like modern day “lepers” by society, often by their own family and the church. The church I was serving was the first outside the Perimeter of Atlanta to begin a ministry with and to AIDS victims. We sought to love, embrace and serve those who had received a diagnosis of what was then a terminal and horrible disease. Yet, our theological orthodoxy caused others to label us haters toward the very ones God called us to love.

 
The second problem I have with the agenda she will, I expect, present is it will seem as if the only issue dividing the church is this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 
We are divided over our understanding of scripture and scriptural authority. We are divided over theological issues as critical as Christology, Original Sin, Atonement, Repentance, Justification, Salvation, Sanctification, the Trinity, Universalism and much more. These are deep, deep theological differences. While both “sides” will use much of the same language, we mean very different things. That will be apparent to orthodox believers who listen very carefully to what our bishop says.

 
This theological division is not new. It has been present in the UMC since we first formed this denomination in 1968. The divergent views of the revelation of truth have taken two tangents which have moved further and further apart across these over 50 years.

 
The third issue will be it will appear, I think, that those of us who do not support her theological and social and ecclesiological agenda are simply an uninformed and narrow few. We are a minor part of the church and if a split occurred only “20 to 30” churches in North Georgia would leave the UMC for a more Traditional orthodox Methodist/Wesleyan denomination.

The assumption is that the vast majority of Methodists in North Georgia will support her agenda. I have served almost 50 years in the UMC, almost all of it in North Georgia. I have preached in dozens and dozens of churches in this conference. I have consulted with numerous congregations. I have known hundreds of lay leaders and worked with them on Walks to a Emmaus, Boards and Committees on Ministry, numerous Conference Committees and Task Forces, have taught courses in dozens of churches, have served as a District Superintendent, a General and Jurisdictional delegate working closely with the lay delegates and have shared about missions with an unknown number of churches in this conference. My appraisal of the laity of North Georgia is they are by far more Orthodox than my clergy brothers and sisters and once they clearly understand the Bishop’s theology and agenda will discover they are far removed from her vision of the faith and the church.

 
The fourth issue is what appears to be a coordinated attempt to silence any alternative theological, doctrinal or ecclesiological opinion divergent from her own. Pastors have been told directly by her district superintendents they are not to speak to the current theological divide in the church. Some have been obviously punished in the appointment making because they have been outspoken in their churches and the greater church. Some of our most effective Evangelical pastors have been invited to leave the denomination by their pastoral supervisors.

 
This has resulted in many clergy under appointment to simply be afraid to speak. This is not anecdotal. Dozens have privately shared this concern with me. They clearly do not agree with the position of the Bishop, but are fearful to speak about this crisis in their own congregations. They have witnessed the treatment of some who dared speak and they feel it necessary to remain silent.

 
As a retired elder, I am not vulnerable to appointment retribution and I can and will speak. Many of them privately thank me for raising a voice of opposition to what is being propagated in North Georgia Methodism.

 
But this is about the laity of the conference, not the clergy. You have no fear of the appointive impact of voicing your thoughts on these matters. You control the purse strings of the local churches and the annual conference and in many ways, the General Church since you make up the largest or second largest conference in Methodism. Your voice needs to be heard. You do not have the platform of the Bishop. In fact, you probably can’t even get the names and contact information for your fellow local church lay leaders. This has been carefully controlled by the Conference. This was not the case in the past. You should ask what has changed.

 
Further, lay folks, your sense of justice and fair play will be manipulated to make it appear if you do not agree with this theological agenda you are unloving, even hateful. Do not fall for it. The laity of this Conference are among the most loving, gracious, and generous people I have ever known. You have stayed faithful while often you have been assigned ineffective pastors or pastors who held very divergent beliefs from your own. You have remained faithful as the growing rift between the local church and the Boards and Agencies of the church has continually widened. You have tolerated the often anemic and even heretical theology taught in many of our denominational seminaries and by some of your own pastors. You have watched as scores of your fellow Methodists, family and church members have simply walked away from your church to join another, more vital congregation. They rejected the chaos and theological drift of our denomination. You have stayed faithful while the conference has escalated closing churches and adjusted to rapidly shrinking resources, Yet you funded generously clergy salaries and pensions. You paid off our unfunded pension liability in spite of the current message. You have supported mission here and around the world. You have fed hungry people, removed debris from natural disasters, taught Sunday School, built Habitat Houses, sung in the choir, joined UMM and UMW. You have supported great ventures such as Camp Glisson, Mountain Top Boys Home, Murphy/Harpst Home, our denominational Colleges and Universities and Seminaries, our Methodist Hospitals and so much more.

 
Stay the course. Do not be confused. Like me, many of you are several generational descendants of your Methodist fore-mothers and fathers. Our faith, our doctrine has not changed. We are followers of Christ and children of the Wesleys. We know what we believe. And this current theological formulation is not it. Use your voice and your influence. Pray for your Bishop and your pastors and your fellow Methodists.

 
The time for amicable separation has come. It is time for leadership to act on the proposed Protocol for Separation in the UMC. Choose this day whom you will serve. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I Corinthians 15:58.

Beck and Greenwald interview on government corruption, oligarchs and censorship

Glenn Greenwald is a rare breed these days: He does actual journalism says Glenn Beck. He explains things very well, like his description of Trump's appeal and Obama's mystique. He and Glenn cover so many topics: Woke corporations, Julian Assange, the #MeToo movement, Putin, Snowden, The Constitution, Big Tech censorship. Why does the Left call Greenwald right-wing but the Right calls him left-wing? For a journalist, that used to be a badge of honor. But as Greenwald points out, the journalism industry has become a Woke priesthood. So, if you want to learn about actual journalism, listen to this episode. It's totally worth getting through a couple of technical difficulties."  Video is about 1.5 hours, but worth every minute of your time.

https://youtu.be/QapuZPQAsW0

Memorial Day in Israel, April 14

April 14 was memorial day in Israel, when fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism are publicly remembered. I watched on Israeli TV this morning an interview with the father of Malki Roth who was murdered in 2001 in a pizzeria bombing. She was an American citizen. The U.S. has international agreements about extradition of terrorists who kill Americans, but had not lived up to the contract. 14 people died, including 6 children, and 120 were injured. Another American woman, a pregnant tourist, was also killed.

 
Malki's father Arnold set the wheels in motion to have Ahlam Ahmad Tamimi—the Hamas terrorist who orchestrated the bombing--extradited to stand trial in the U.S. Tamimi was arrested and tried in Israel for her crime, receiving 16 life sentences, but was freed to Jordan in 2011 in a prisoner exchange and she now lives free and is considered a national hero. Through Mr. Roth's efforts she is now on the FBI most wanted list, and he is appealing to Joe Biden to bring her to justice. Jordan's excuse is it never ratified the 1995 treaty on extradition.

Ahlam Ahmad al-Tamimi | Counter Extremism Project

Video appeal for Joe Biden: https://youtu.be/9GclFQ15fkQ

Do police deliberately and disproportionately kill blacks?

As riots and protests about police killings continue, let's look at some murder statistics. I'm using 2017 FBI-UCR (Uniform Crime Report), because these reports roll in at various times. Let's look at the victims instead of the killers. They don't get the headlines, but their lives matter too. TLM. In 2017, there was a total of 15,129 homicide victims--6,579 were white, 7,851 were black, and 2,304 were Hispanic. Assailants are usually male and between the ages of 15-35 and are most often the same race as their victim, but VICTIMS can be any age and sex--women, children, elderly. Within the UCR reports, these homicides are further detailed, such as gang killing, babysitter and child, rape, etc. I won't address that except other reports show for under age 5 victims the most likely weapon of a murder victim is fists, not guns or knives and a relative is usually the killer, not a babysitter or stranger.

Even those who hate math can see blacks are murdered at a much higher number and rate than whites or Hispanics. Whites are 76.3%, and Hispanics 18.5% of the population. Blacks are 13.4% of the population, and bear the burden of violent crime (these murders often take place during other violent crime).

 
What's the solution from prominent Democrats and BLM geniuses? Defund the police, i.e., make things even less safe for blacks. Most police homicides involve a person with a criminal record. That includes George Floyd last May, Daunte Wright (Minnesota, accidentally shot) and Miles Jackson (Columbus, who attacked police in a hospital). All had warrants for arrest, and all resisted arrest. That's the usual situation when police kill someone, black, white, brown, male or female.

Just as an add on: here's the quote from ABC News about Columbus, which shows what matters in reporting. Race. The reporter noted in the first paragraph the race of the criminal. Then after a summary description: 

"Jackson died in the shooting at Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital in suburban Columbus. The races of all the officers have not been confirmed, although several appeared to be white. A message was left with police requesting that information." 

After that biased paragraph, ABC includes a lengthy blow by blow detail from the body cam of how the criminal behaved and pulled a gun on the police. Even a 10 year old could figure this out, but that night crowds showed up to attack the police station.

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program — FBI

Miles Jackson: Fatal police shooting in hospital in Ohio caught on officer bodycams - 6abc Philadelphia

Running for the exits

R.R. Reno reports: "As a sometime professor, I have many friends in academia. I can't count how many conversations, I've had recently in which my friends have confided their despair over the future of liberal education [that's liberal as in freedom of thought]. Those who are retired emphasize their good fortune. Those who are still teaching tell me they hope to make it to retirement, somehow, or are looking for the exits. As a young academic friend put it, "I'm exhausted by the lies--and by the cowardice." First Things, May 2021, p. 66.

Lies on the Left, cowardice on the Right. 

Today Glenn Beck interviewed Everett Piper (retired President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University), author of "Grow up." Piper says he can recommend only 3 colleges to Christian parents. Hillsdale in Michigan, College of the Ozarks in Missouri, and New St. Andrews in Idaho. In the end, civilization needs adults.

I'm not sure why Piper didn't recommend his own OKWU, except maybe modesty. He turned it around financially. https://www.wesleyan.org/okwus-piper-set-to-retire-in-2020

Excess deaths from Covid lockdowns

The media want us to focus on the deaths from the current virus--about 80% of them in people who were overweight or obese. But the excess mortality was greater among those in the 15 to 54 age range, not the elderly. And the cause wasn't the virus, but the lockdown. These victims weren't the laptop, snowflake types like journalists, scientists, and politicians, but the lower income and minority households. In actual numbers those grieving families are white people, but the media will make it a racism story (rate) rather than a lockdown story which they encouraged because fear brought them profit.

"The deadly impact of lockdowns will grow in future years, due to the lasting economic and educational consequences. The United States will experience more than 1 million excess deaths in the United States during the next two decades as a result of the massive “unemployment shock” last year, according to a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins and Duke, who analyzed the effects of past recessions on mortality. Other researchers, noting how educational levels affect income and life expectancy, have projected that the “learning loss” from school closures will ultimately cost this generation of students more years of life than have been lost by all the victims of the coronavirus."
https://www.city-journal.org/death-and-lockdowns  

There was far more support for lockdowns among Democrat governors and mayors than Republicans. And much of it was about politics, not public health. Anything to ruin the economy and President Trump; anything to ramp up the charges of racism; anything to grab the brass ring of green. Hate from the Left has killed Americans and will destroy several generations.
And still no evidence that lockdowns have saved any lives.

Do you watch CNN? Stop now--you're being scammed

Getting the latest on Covid from CNN? Project Veritas has a video of a director saying they use it as a cash cow--pressure to report the most negative numbers so they can get more viewers and clicks. "Gangbusters for ratings." Shameful.

Project Veritas: CNN Insider Admits They Hyped COVID Death Toll, It's "Gangbusters For Ratings" | Video | RealClearPolitics

"Charlie Chester, a technical director for CNN, was captured on film by Project Veritas admitting that the cable news network hyped the COVID pandemic for ratings and explaining he believes "there is no such thing as unbiased news."

"Sad news back-to-back-to-back doesn't do really well, unless it affects [the viewer] directly," he explained. "No one ever says these things out loud but it is obvious.""

It's true, you know, more whites are shot by police than blacks, but no one riots

An unarmed white woman with no outstanding warrants was killed by a policeman. A black man wanted for choking and robbery of a woman resisted arrest and is accidentally shot. Which police incident is causing riots and property damage? The white female police officer in the 2nd case has resigned and is already facing 2nd degree manslaughter charges with no investigation. The other policeman is being protected by the Democrats to further their ridiculous "insurrection" story.

Officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt in Capitol riot won't face charges, Justice Department | Just The News

Will the real journalists show up?

The panicked press corps analyzed, fretted and lied about every word, tweet and hand gesture of Donald Trump, yet they simply can't be bothered to investigate Biden's health, relationships with Iran and China, and his crime syndicate family. Is there an Antifa group who are tired of burning down Portland interested in journalism schools?

Trump: W.H. Press Corps Asked Biden 'Ridiculous' Softball Questions (breitbart.com)

Tim Graham: The Pro-Biden press corps is deeply embarrassing – just look at these follow up questions | Fox News

The Pro-Biden Press Corps Is Deeply Embarrassing, by Tim Graham | Creators Syndicate

Pack the court

Democrats can't win control with elections--people come up for reelection or retire or do something stupid and leave office. So it's necessary to 1) pack the court, 2) add 2 new states (Democrat of course), and 3) bring in as many illegal immigrants as possible to vote.

Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the Supreme Court of the United States, after showing that they didn’t have the courage to do what they should have done on the Great Presidential Election Fraud of 2020, was PACKED by the same people, the Radical Left Democrats (who they are so afraid of!), that they so pathetically defended in not hearing the Election Fraud case. Now there is a very good chance they will be diluted (and moved throughout the court system so that they can see how the lower courts work), with many new Justices added to the Court, far more than has been reported. There is also a good chance that they will be term-limited. We had 19 states go before the Supreme Court who were, shockingly, not allowed to be heard. Believe it or not, the President of the United States was not allowed to be heard based on “no standing,” not based on the FACTS. The Court wouldn’t rule on the merits of the great Election Fraud, including the fact that local politicians and judges, not State Legislatures, made major changes to the Election—which is in total violation of the United States Constitution.
Our politically correct Supreme Court will get what they deserve—an unconstitutionally elected group of Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country. With leaders like Mitch McConnell, they are helpless to fight. He didn’t fight for the Presidency, and he won’t fight for the Court. If and when this happens, I hope the Justices remember the day they didn’t have courage to do what they should have done for America."

Why is Biden doing it?

The difference is clear. The two administrations have opposite views on how to handle illegal immigration, both short term and long term.

Trump: prevent border crossing without permission and visas and access to tax payer benefits and American jobs. Border security--wall/fence, technology, human patrol, paying other countries to control their borders.

Biden: open all borders for any nationality for easier crossing by job seekers, relatives, refugees, terrorists, drug cartels, human traffickers. Remove barriers and increase payments for sanctuary cities, college programs, covid relief

.
The question is why? Why did Trump believe nations have rights to secure their borders and why doesn't Biden? Where's the pay off? Which is expansionist? Which is a take-over of another country, its land and people? Is this the new colonialism?

National Sibling Day April 10

 

  

Bob and his siblings and grandfather in 1952.

The pandemic made a lot of people rich

The Pandemic has been VERY lucrative for some. I'm not surprised some want to keep that horse in the race. The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented 2,755--660 more than a year ago. Of those, a record high 493 were new to the list--roughly one every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong.

My. Goodness. 210 of 493 from China and Hong Kong. Imagine that. https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/

"Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest for the fourth year running, worth $177 billion, while Elon Musk rocketed into the number two spot with $151 billion, as Tesla and Amazon shares surged. Altogether these billionaires are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020. The U.S. still has the most, with 724, followed by China (including Hong Kong and Macao) with 698. We used stock prices and exchange rates from March 5 to calculate net worths."

The mass shooting in South Carolina

I watched the news yesterday morning expecting to hear something about Thursday's mass shooting in SC,  but it wasn't even mentioned. I think there was brief mention about the shooting in Texas. So I checked. I didn't even know there was a 6th victim. Noticed this victim in a USAToday article, race isn't mentioned, nor the name of the shooter, or his former profession. 

"Robert Shook of Cherryville was working at a rural home in York County, South Carolina, when a gunman, yielding 9mm and .45-caliber handguns, shot him and five other people.

Everyone at the home, including his work partner, James Lewis, died from their injuries, except for Shook, who continues to fight for his life following multiple surgeries at Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. The gunman also took his own life."

Survivor of mass shooting from Cherryville still recovering (usatoday.com)

 Suspect in South Carolina mass shooting that killed 5 played in NFL (msn.com)

Some American households may have received $60-70,000 in pandemic relief

 Who would consider going back to work?  In some states the figure is as high as $100,000.

The unemployment insurance benefits paired existing state-level weekly aid with a federal payment ranging from $600/week under the CARES Act to $300 per week under the American Rescue Plan Act. The aid was also extended to workers who usually do not qualify for unemployment benefits, including gig economy workers and independent contractors. Unemployed workers could continue to claim unemployment insurance benefits past the usual 26-week window during the pandemic.

Take, for example, a married household with two young children living in Georgia with a single earner who made $60,000 in 2019. Imagine the single earner lost her job on April 1, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the family would have been eligible for $365 per week from the state of Georgia in unemployment benefits up to 26 weeks and $4,000 in Child Tax Credit, for a total of $13,490.

Read further: https://taxfoundation.org/total-covid-relief-unemployment-insurance/?

On the death of Prince Philip

We received the DVD set of Downton Abbey for Christmas and are now watching it a second time. We just finished (the 2nd time) the episode where the letter between the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Dudley Ward (his mistress for 16 years) was stolen by a card shark and recovered by Mr. Bates, the valet of Lord Grantham. A thief stole it from a thief who was going to use it as blackmail.  With the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, we are reminded that Elizabeth wouldn't be the Queen if the Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) hadn't abdicated the throne for another lover, not Mrs. Dudley Ward, but a twice divorced American socialite, Wallis Simpson.  So Elizabeth's father became the King.

Another race hoax--this one at Albion College

This doesn't really surprise me--the hoaxes, I mean. https://www.foxnews.com/us/racist-graffiti-michigan-albion-college-student?

The air we breathe is filled with Critical Race Theory, constant digging by academics to bury or revise American history, microaggressions, reeducation camps, sins of the past, lies about the Georgia election, and demands to re-segregate society. Big Tech is allowed/encouraged to squash any discussion. We subscribe to maybe 10 journals--from architecture to history, to preservation, to business and art--all seem to be competing to publish The Great American Wokeism, a Marxist inspired movement that has turned into a cult complete with evangelists, worship centers, priests, perp walks down the sawdust trail to accept the new religion, and media strong arming at every turn.

Our Road to Emmaus

In 2009 we visited the Holy Land on a tour with our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Columbus. St. Jerome called this kind of pilgrimage, the fifth gospel. And it is, indeed, as all the readings and stories you've heard for years come alive.

 
According to Fr. Sebastian White (editor of Magnificat, April 2021, p. 3-5) the one place we're not sure we saw is Emmaus, the place two disciples were heading when the risen Jesus joined them on the road. There are 6 contenders! Not to worry, the Bible is very clear even if modern explorers can't agree on the historical location. It's the road that represents "every place," -- "the road every Christian, every person takes. The risen Jesus makes himself our traveling companion as we go on our way, to rekindle the warmth of faith and hope in our hearts and to break the bread of eternal life." (Pope Benedict XVI)

Child murder statistics compared to Covid19

"American children 14 years and younger are more likely to be murdered than to die because of COVID-19, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

https://www.dailysignal.com/2021/03/18/more-children-14-and-under-are-murdered-than-die-of-covid-19/?

That's not a pleasant topic, but their violent deaths also didn't close down the schools. And if you scroll through all the statistics (this article is loaded), it doesn't tell you that children under 5 are in danger of homicide, but it's their parents, not strangers or neighbors. Particularly their mothers and their boyfriends, and it's not guns either. Homicide has drastically gone down in all age groups the last 25 years, but has gone up in that one, and black children are way out of proportion to their population.

Although statistics for women who murder are far lower than men, for homicides involving young children the percentage is very high, and going up the last few decades. No one knows why, but I suspect it's abortion creating a disrespect for life and breaking the mother-child bond.

Collecting My Thoughts: Do black lives matter?

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Race and Ethnicity of Violent Crime Offenders and Arrestees, 2018

Wall Street Journal reports economic crisis is over

The economy is set to soar, but the Biden /Democrat hysteria choir is trying to tap it down so it can grab more green goodies at your expense.

"The latest evidence arrived Monday with the Institute for Supply Management’s news that its March survey for service businesses hit 63.7. That’s an all-time high, and it signifies rapid growth and optimism. The only problem is that many businesses say they can’t find enough workers or supplies to meet their order books.

That follows Friday’s blowout employment report for March, with a net total of 1.07 million new jobs including revisions from the previous two months. Wage gains were bigger than they looked at first glance, given that many returning workers were those in lower-wage services jobs hurt by the pandemic." Wall St. Journal

Cancel the egg rolls. Hire CBS to do a hit piece on Florida's governor. Bust open the border with more infected immigrants and ship them around the country. Keep the schools closed with teachers union (which funds 99.9% Democrat candidates) cooperation. Send Fauci to all the talk shows with even more confusing information.

Egg rolls cancelled because of Covid

I don't care much for "egg rolls" which are traditional at Easter, but cancelling them at the White House or locally in our town was a political statement, not a health statement. They are done outside, and the WH lawn is huge. The numbers could have been limited, there was plenty of space for distancing, and even children, who don't need masks, could have worn them. It was just another Biden /Democrat bureaucracy announcement that we are under his control and power, and we better not forget it.

 
We took our children ONCE as pre-schoolers to the local event in the early 70s, and swore never again. It was a mob of screaming, fighting, yelling suburban kids who one would have thought hadn't eaten in weeks. It terrified our little ones and we never went to another one.

 

We had our own Easter egg hunt at our house in 1973 with the Clarks. Phil and Rich used their cowboy hats as Easter baskets.

Use this form to apply for a ballot to vote by mail

Our household has received a hand delivered brochure with 2 absentee ballot applications. I could say it's rigged against a certain class of people. The elderly. And not for naught. We old folks, especially remembering the creaming we got for that school bond issue which was so outrageous many didn't bother to vote, might just vote down a recreation center as fancy as our neighbors in Dublin, Westerville and Worthington. This keeping up with the Jones on a pension budget is tough. I suspect the supporters do all they can to discourage the elderly from voting and not campaigning.

Back to voting. These applications certainly ask for a lot of information. Probably much more than Georgians need to know. This one has 8 parts, but #8 is not required. There is a bold warning that WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

The first thing I noticed is that the print is so tiny (and I have a minimal prescription for bifocals and have had cataract surgery) I may need to look for a magnifying glass.

Second, there are at least 7-8 items one can use for voter ID and I can think of many elderly voters who might have a problem (not a current driver, don't know where their SS card is, have bills taken care of by someone else or the bank, or get confused about that exception that is listed which won't be accepted.

Third, the form to apply for a ballot to vote by mail asks the date of the election (do not write today's date), and that information is on the brochure, not on the application, which has been separated and possibly thrown away.

Fourth, the application to apply for a ballot asks if this is for a general election, a special election , a primary election, the name of the voter's political party, or an issues only ballot. Then outside that space to the left are instructions in teeny print that the voter must complete a separate application for each election.

Part 7 of the form to apply for a ballot to vote by mail needs a signed affirmation that the voter wants the form mailed to the address shown in part 4, not part 3. Pt. 7 contains another warning about legal penalty if the statements are not true.

The request (this form) must be received by the board of elections no later than noon on the Saturday before Election Day if by mail or by 2 pm the day before the election if in person. Who gets mail before noon around here? Ours sometimes arrives at 7 p.m. If I mess that up or forget I applied (not voted) and go to the polling place to vote in person, then I will have to vote a provisional ballot which cannot be counted until at least 11 days after Election Day.

I can recall "in the old days" we could request absentee if we were going to be out of town, or were ill or disabled, by calling, It wasn't a mass mailing (or distribution) and it was very simple.

Now where is that magnifying glass? I think I'll drive to the polls on that date I need to look up. It's easier.

Sara thought she was making herself sick, but it has a name--guest blogger Sara Gruber

"After being told for years that my ailments were anxiety, I became a disbeliever in my own body. I stopped believing in my ability to decipher if I was physically ill or not. I spent the past two decades convincing myself that anxiety was the cause of my dizziness, weakness, heart palpitations, tightness of chest…

And like so many people with anxiety, I believed that it was my fault. I believed that I had these physical feelings because I wasn’t mentally and emotionally strong enough. My confidence was replaced with a chaotic dialogue. “You’re dizzy because you need to calm down… You’ve never passed out in the grocery store before so stop being ridiculous. You’re not going to pass out today…”

I fought anxiety. I fought so hard! I took medications. I worked out. I meditated. I changed my diet. I read self-help books. I listened to podcasts. Yet, I was still sick and I was still scared.

Learning that I had dysautonomia was the first step to regaining the belief that I was interpreting my body correctly. It freed this resounding roar of, “I knew it! I knew there was something else that wasn’t right.” So many of my symptoms that were from dysautonomia were attributed to anxiety. All too often, anxiety has become a crutch diagnosis. It is the label many are left with when tests don’t find answers. It puts a halt to people’s journeys to find answers and it even belittles those who are suffering from anxiety by being a catch all.

Year after year, day after day—I thought I wasn’t smart enough, determined enough, strong enough… and maybe even that I wasn’t deserving enough…

Thinking I was too sensitive to be in the heat, then discovering, “Hey, I actually don’t sweat anymore.”
Believing I wasn’t strong enough to be in leadership roles. My heart would beat uncontrollably in meetings with an aggressive supervisor. Not mild palpitations, I’m talking pass-out-quality pounding. I found myself looking for every opportunity to get out just to calm my heart. I know now that the type of dysautonomia I have, Hyperadrenergic POTS (Hyper POTS) causes massive adrenaline dumps during times of stress.

Feeling ashamed because I was too scared to drive long distances. I often felt like I couldn’t breathe when I was driving. I’ve since been able to track that my heart rate often increases over 40 bpm in this position. It goes up because my blood is not circulating properly and my heart is trying to compensate by working harder.

Thinking I was ridiculous for being scared to go into grocery stores. The combination of standing, reaching for items, and fluorescent lights was dizzying. I remember mustering up all of my energy to push through when all I wanted to do was leave. I would look around at people who were 40 years older than me and believed that they looked so much healthier than I felt.

Did I ever share that I felt this way with anyone? Never! It was crazy talk.

Now, I absolutely know that I also have anxiety. I think it would be hard to live through this and not. All of these ailments inspire anxiety; they draw it out of me and then that anxiety exacerbates everything. It’s still hard to know where the line between dysautonomia and anxiety lies. Maybe that’s because that line doesn’t end, it blurs.

Even if I had been fighting anxiety without dysautonomia, I wish I could have seen the bravery in that. I wish that my internal dialogue had been loving instead of self-deprecating. No one with anxiety chooses it. I never chose it! It’s like living in a prison of fear—the least we can do for ourselves is have self-compassion as a cell mate.

So here’s to self-compassion!

I have anxiety. I have dysautonomia. I am stronger than I thought. I am braver than I knew. "

I thought I was making myself sick – Blessings of Chronic Illness

Anesthesia and memory loss

 I noticed this article in TheScientist Magazine today.  Anesthesia Impairs Memory in Mice | The Scientist Magazine® (the-scientist.com)  It is reporting on the original published work,  Anesthetics fragment hippocampal network activity, alter spine dynamics, and affect memory consolidation (plos.org)  For some time, I've been concerned about memory changes after anesthesia, but haven't been able to find anything about it except discussions of "brain fog" and short term memory loss that clears after a day or so. I recently cancelled an appointment for a colonoscopy, a procedure I consider important, because I was told that after 80 and even deeper sedation is used.  I had requested lighter or minimal because I never seem to fully recover and experience what I would call long term effects--like forever.  This research says the effects it might be otherwise: “The results challenge a very fundamental notion that I think the public—and many investigators even—assume. And that is, once the drugs have been eliminated from the body, the brain goes back to baseline state. And that’s not the case.”

New dishes for the lake house--again

   

I really didn't need new dishes for our lake home, but when I saw these (above), I knew they'd be perfect in the blue and white kitchen with pink touches.  They are Keltcraft (Noritake label made in Ireland), and so far, the most expensive I've had at the lake, $95 for about 50 pieces. As I recall, I originally had blue and white Currier and Ives dishes from the 1950s, free from my friend Adrienne which she was getting rid of when she remodeled her kitchen in the late 80s. Many years later a neighbor on Oak Avenue had a set of blue and white Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne put out for a yard sale.  They didn't sell, so she put a price of $10 on the set and that included the laundry basket they were in, and she enlisted her kids to carry them to our cottage. After a few years I gave the Currier and Ives to a friend who was moving and needed a set of dishes.  

Years before at another yard sale I bought some white china with delicate blue and pink flowers and platinum trim that were going for $25 due to a divorce. They had been a wedding gift and had all the serving pieces and even a tea pot.  I put those aside for "special" times. Then about 8 years ago I found a lovely set of white on white china, International Wakefield 364, about 7 place settings, for $5 at the Lakeside Heritage Society Labor Day sale, and I couldn't pass those up.  I put the Pfaltzgraff in a neighbor's sale and then had two sets of china--neither of which could be used in the microwave, so I had to pick up some pottery for cereal bowls and serving.  Then last summer I found a wonderful hand painted set about 70 years old, Mountain Ivy from Blue Ridge Southern Pottery. at the Lakeside archives sale store.  I love them. I think the set was $25, and they delivered them to the house.

  

My plan is to keep a few pieces of the blue and pink on white floral china for us to use at home, and donate the rest.  As I recall, I have either 10 or 12 place settings, more than we ever could use at the lake. Even if I keep 2 or 4 place settings, there is still a lot to donate.  And now Bob will be able to cook his oatmeal in a nice bowl that matches the plates. 

Every time I see CDC director Walensky's emotional news clip about Covid I am reminded of Biden's lies during the campaign about how he had a plan. (Deja vu. Obama had a secret plan in 2008 to get us out of a war, and kept us there 8 more years.) I remember how Biden and Pelosi criticized Trump for closing air traffic from China as racist and xenophobic. He and other Democrats ridiculed the idea of fast tracking a vaccine without years of red tape. He had no plan, and for the most part he is doing nothing except instilling more fear and asking for more of what we've been doing for a year.

 
His lies worked, and Democrats voted for a cognitively impaired head of a family crime ring with close to 50 years in government. While all his advisors worked behind the scenes to take advantage of this crisis, they busted the border wide open while busting the budget with more trillion dollar green deal give aways, and stealing our rights guaranteed us as Americans. No one advising Biden was doing anything about Covid because all scientists and researchers were already going full steam ahead.

 
Trump was a victim of his enemies in the media, Big Tech, and RINOs, but Biden is a victim of old age and feebleness--something none of us can control. We still don't know who's in charge, but I'm pretty sure it isn't Harris who hasn't had enough time to clear out her enemies in the party. (She only got a paltry 1% in the primaries--a good indication of the faith they have in her). A cabal of Obama cronies and their straw bosses is my guess. They believe they didn't think big enough with the 2008 financial crisis with just billions, so they've moved on to trillions. They've been controlling our education system for such a time as this, and Americans probably don't know the difference.

 
Only China of all the countries in the world has made out with the crisis it engineered.

Churches using government money to fulfill their promise to Christ

Christian relief groups, particularly churches like the Catholics and Baptists, are really in a bind. Christ commanded us to help the poor, imprisoned, hungry, etc. but NOT by taking grants from the government to do it. We Christians are cooperating with evil by providing humanitarian care for the caravans--many funded by traffickers and drug cartels. And it isn't just this administration, it really geared up under "thousand points of light" of GHW Bush, although it was common before that with building contracts to help clean up poverty and farm surplus for food pantries run by churches.

 
When Jesus comes back and asks how we followed Matthew 25, I fear he'll find the churches there with the goats, and not the sheep who know him. We're not to be siphoning off tax money and becoming dependent on the government.

Unfortunately, this invites anti-Catholic hostility from other Christians, while tying the Catholics even closer to poorly managed, dead end government practices.  Plus, many Christians who are critical of this, are ignorant of what their own denomination is doing with government money.

Dissenting Catholic Charities: Separating Church & Welfare State? - Capital Research Center

Catholic Church collects $1.6 billion in U.S. contracts, grants since 2012 - Washington Times

Churches Take Action to Help Children at the Border As Leaders Debate (churchleaders.com)

A year late, and trillions of dollars short

Even in the Biden administration and the diehard leftists in the main stream media, there is skepticism about the latest WHO report. 

That the virus may have escaped, or been released, from a lab in China has been a discussion at Newsmax and other conservative sources, especially Gordan Chang, China expert, for months. Jen Psaki, Biden's Spox said in a press conference that medical experts and the global community "all deserve greater transparency." She said the report lacks crucial information and provides a "partial, incomplete picture" of the virus’ origin. Well, duh. Where was Mr. Expert Biden a year ago? Well, he was criticizing President Trump as a racist and xenophobe.

Psaki says WHO report on coronavirus origin 'lacks transparency' | Fox News

Here's Gordon Chang on Fox last April, "And, by the way...there is a lot of evidence that suggests this comes from the lab. A January 24th article from The Lancet -- which is the authoritative British medical journal -- said that many of the initial coronavirus cases did not come from the wet market, which is China's theory," he stated. "Well, if they didn't come from the wet market, they had to have come from the lab."

Gordon G. Chang: Trump right to stop funding World Health Organization over its botched coronavirus response | Fox News

Gordon Chang: The World Health Organization Was Complicit with China in Spreading the Coronavirus :: Grabien - The Multimedia Marketplace

'It looks like Chinese Communist Party has bought the WHO' - Israel National News

The Trump hatred, which includes Google and Facebook blocking my posts,  has made this disease much worse in the U.S. by insulting and cancelling voices that wouldn't believe the China-WHO information.

Downton Abbey the third time

We received a gift boxed set of the British TV series Downton Abbey for Christmas and are watching it for the second time. We watched all the bonus shows after we finished the series and then the movie, and so went back to see what clues, music, fashion, etc. we had missed.   I had first seen it 10 years ago, but had forgotten most of it.  Now we just finished watching the 3rd season (2nd time) and Matthew Crawley dies in the last scene. It was a shock the first time, and still is.  If Daniel Stevens hadn't wanted out of his contract, you do wonder what direction the series would have taken.  His departure caused a huge uproar among the fans, but his career has gone well.

 There are a few things we’ve noticed and commented on. We think if the series were made today—2020 instead of 2010—they wouldn’t have begun the story with a homosexual as the bad guy. Thomas Barrow is a gossip, a coward during the war, and gets into the post war black market, even though he fails. He’s nasty and sneaky and no one likes him. He is redeemed somewhat for being so mean as the series progresses. But also, we noticed that except for the rape story involving Anna, most of the overt sexual aggression was from the women. Edith, Sybil and Mary, all go beyond proprieties to get their man—especially Edith is aggressive. Mary’s shame influences the family’s fortune for years. Then Rose is also quite the sex kitten. Old lady Grantham had almost run off with the Russian prince in the 19th century when she was young, and was prepared to give up her two children. Then there are 3 house maids who go after men socially above them, and the one gets pregnant and then becomes a prostitute after her baby is born. I don’t think I noticed that thread so much the first time I watched it in 2011. We’ll probably watch it again when we’re at the Lake house this summer. 

Karen vs. Meghan

Apologies to the Karens of this world. According to a popular internet meme, Karen is a middle-aged white woman with an asymmetrical bob asking to speak to the manager, who happens to be as entitled as she is ignorant. But it's two mega-rich, opinionated Meghans who are acting the part of poor lil me. One is a B list movie star turned Princess, and the other a soccer star.  The "Karen" meme was sexist, misogynist and racist, and she was the junior hi popular girl we all loved to hate. Yet these two poor examples of womanhood are masquerading as icons of the culture and get even more publicity from the media who make money from them.

Christian singing groups in India

Yesterday I found a source of beautiful hymns, including “All glory laud and honor” for Palm Sunday, and was surprised they were from India—St. Andrew Kirk in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, and other cooperating Christian groups. According to the tradition of Indian Christians, the Christian faith was introduced to India through Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have reached the Malabar Coast (Kerala) in 52 AD. From this album I looked at a few more sites, and found this lovely group, BESY. But they looked Asian, not Indian. And they are indeed, Asians of many diverse tribes, but an Indian state.

“Mizoram is a state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its capital city. The name is derived from “Mizo“, the name of the native inhabitants, and “Ram”, which means land, and thus Mizoram means “land of the Mizos”. Mizoram was previously part of Assam until 1972, when it was carved out as a Union Territory. It became the 23rd state of India, a step above Union Territory, on 20 February 1987. Mizoram’s population was 1,091,014, according to a 2011 census. It is the 2nd least populous state in the country.

About 95% of the current population is of diverse tribal origins who settled in the state, mostly from Southeast Asia, other waves of migration started about the 16th century but mainly in the 18th century. This is the highest concentration of tribal people among all states of India, and they are currently protected under Indian constitution as a Scheduled Tribe. Mizoram is one of three states of India with a Christian majority (87%). Its people belong to various denominations, mostly Presbyterian in the north and Baptists in the south.”

BESY Choir of Aizawl, Mizoram – India – In The Word

https://youtu.be/3ajY-xEw6ZU

https://youtu.be/NKz8CBY_Stw

Some of the Mizo tribes claim to be Jews, of the lost tribes of Israel. They had first converted from animism under European missionaries to Christianity, then in the 1950s became Jews. Some have immigrated to Israel.

The myth of food desserts

Yesterday I blogged about dollar stores and how the woke blokes are sounding the alarm that they target poor and minorities (Google/FB blocked my link when I tried to post it to Facebook). But while watching the show on Cheddar, I noticed again how often the food nannies complain and alarm us about "food desserts." That was disproven about a decade ago, when it was a common myth. I think it was a hobby horse ridden by Michelle Obama. Too many fast food and convenience store businesses was the complaint. Here's a recap by Rod Dreher, from 2012.

"But two new studies have found something unexpected. Such neighborhoods not only have more fast food restaurants and convenience stores than more affluent ones, but more grocery stores, supermarkets and full-service restaurants, too. And there is no relationship between the type of food being sold in a neighborhood and obesity among its children and adolescents.

Within a couple of miles of almost any urban neighborhood, “you can get basically any type of food,” said Roland Sturm of the RAND Corporation, lead author of one of the studies. “Maybe we should call it a food swamp rather than a desert,” he said."

Obesity is a growing (no pun) problem for all Americans, but particularly in "underserved neighborhoods." Thousands of academics have earned promotion and tenure by siphoning off our tax supported grants from the federal government to try to change the food culture of minorities. They develop exercise programs, food plans and diets. We get fatter and they get richer. Meanwhile they want more and more women to leave their homes and children, and sit behind a desk with a computer. Go figure. I know several of my inches belong to Blogger (Google) and Facebook.

The good news is I passed the 11,000 mile mark on my exercycle (since January 2015).  The bad news is that it makes little difference in how my clothes fit, so I'm hoping its good for the heart and lungs.

Dollar Stores, good or bad for your community?

I like to watch Cheddar channel on Sunday when I cycle (inside, another 11 miles and I'll pass 11,000 miles). But because its focus is on youth, it's a bit thick with woke and SJW opinions and stories. Today its focus was on the scary, outrageous (hype) growth of the dollar store chains. Oh. My. They cater to low income and those with immediate shopping needs! Horror. Remember, these same greenie "save the world" types ran out investments in big box stores and chain grocery stores from inner city neighborhoods about 2 decades ago. It seems there are now more dollar stores than McDonald's. The save-the-earth  and make-all-minorities-victims groups also don't like McDonald's.  Consumers like them so much, everyone is obese or at least not eating enough fruits and vegetables from other sources.

It seems the SJW crowd are all for "mom and pop" stores, but only if run by an actual local family, who is probably white or Asian and middle class hoping to expand to something better. I've been hearing about "mom and pop" and the "small farmer" for decades. Look, they are in business to make a living. If we drive by on our way to Walmart, or the produce is too limp and old to make a salad, let's not blame a lack of diversity and equity in the "system." If "mom and pop" owners can sell the family business because the real estate is now worth $2 million and they only clear $30,000 a year working 12 hours a day, why would the SJW deny a small business owner that opportunity to move up and out by selling to a corporation?

I love the little dollar store a few miles from my home, and the one near Lakeside. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find small packages in large supermarkets? I prefer to pay more per ounce if I can lift the container! I love paying 2/$1.00 for greeting cards, or 5 shower caps for $1, or 6 packages of peanuts for $1. The store is clean, the staff pleasant, and they seem to meet the needs of the people now taking up residence in those awful apartment complexes that look like prison compounds. 

The Cheddar program reported that dollar stores target poor and minority neighborhoods--you know, so they can walk to the store, or find several items they can afford. What the SJW are really mad about is that market forces and capitalism are driving the growth of small scale, cheap to build money making stores. There are many suburbanites who shop there too, and they fill a need the big box stores don't. And they stayed open during the pandemic.

The final point in the program was that they attract crime (I suppose because of the minority neighborhoods?). Recently in Columbus, we've had a spate of shootings and robberies at suburban shopping centers and gas stations. Criminals aren't stupid, and they don't become bad people because of where investors put their businesses whether it's a kosher grocery in Boulder or a massage parlor in Atlanta.

But as I noted, Cheddar's focus, fast paced and trendy, is on the young--they have a specific market just as dollar stores do. But for them, I guess it's OK. Cheddar was founded by Jon Steinberg, President and Chief Operating Officer of BuzzFeed from 2010 to 2014. Its investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Raine Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Liberty Global, Comcast Ventures, AT&T, Amazon, Antenna Group, Ribbit Capital, The New York Stock Exchange, Altice USA, 7 Global Capital, and Denstu Ventures.

About Cheddar. Cheddar is the leading post-cable… | by Michael Leibel | CheddarNews

Palm Sunday 2021, All Glory, Laud and Honor

 Many churches are still on a limited schedule, buildings locked during the week, ministries of service that involve person to person contact closed, and even if meeting with social distancing, hymn singing is discouraged.  I've heard from friends who have changed worship locations that Shiloh Mennonite (London, OH) and Grace Fellowship (Upper Arlington, OH) and Resurrection Lutheran (Hilliard, OH) continue to have congregational singing. Today is Palm Sunday when Christians celebrate the entrance of Christ the Lord into Jerusalem.  Normally, and nothing is normal these days, at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, we would pick up a palm branch on the way into the sanctuary, wave the palms from the pew and sing with gusto . . .

All glory, laud and honor,

To you, Redeemer, King,

To whom the lips of children

Made sweet hosannas ring.

You are the King of Israel,

And David's royal Son,

Now in the Lor's Name coming,

Our King and blessed One.

https://youtu.be/h3a8fTTrAdE

https://youtu.be/zxzhFsuBijs

One of the commenters at the Indian site, Prashant L. Nemani, left this information; 

Words "Gloria, Laus, Et Honor" (Latin).Author: Bishop Theodulph Of Orleans [760- 821], Circa 820. Theodulph was born into the Italian nobility in 0761, but decided on a life of religious service. His first position was as abbot of a monastery in Firenze (Florence), Italy. In 781, Charlemagne appointed him Bishop of Orleans, France. However, this flourishing career came to an abrupt end with Charlemagne’s death. Louis the Pious suspected Theodulph of secret loyalty to political leaders in Italy, the country of his birth. These suspicions led to Theodulph’s imprisonment in Angiers in 818. His predicament is reminiscent of Paul’s incarceration in Rome. Like Paul, Theodulph’s faith sustained him inside cold stone walls. It was there he wrote ALL GLORY, LAUD AND HONOR, and there that he died in 821. Translated from Latin to English by: Rev. (Dr.) John Mason Neale [1818-1866], in 1851.

Joe Biden lied at press conference

For the first time in anyone's memory, household income and wages of the low income made REAL advances during the Trump years as a result of the tax cuts. 82% of us got the cut, and 90% of working people got a raise. But what did Biden spout at the presser? The same old lie--only the richest benefitted. That's been disproven so many times, you wonder where the speech writer was the last 4 years (we know where he was). Growth was greater for the lowest quarter than the upper quarter, plus there were REAL wage gains. Now he wants to chase American companies to foreign soils as higher taxes always do, creating job loss and higher consumer costs here. At the same time, he's bringing in people who will compete with our workers in the lower income groups. Kevin Brady (R-TX) says Biden told so many lies at the press conference (his first) that Twitter should take his account away from him. He's welcoming people who will need a huge safety net and impose costs on local communities, while simultaneously pushing well paid jobs to foreign countries.

Now that he and Pelosi have us speaking trillions instead of billions, and they just foisted on us $1.2 trillion, little of which was for Covid19, but had that check dangling out there as a carrot, now it will be trillions more for "infrastructure," the green grab and more government control over public and personal health.

Do we even know what a trillion is? Let's look at seconds. 60 seconds is a minute. One million seconds is 12 years. One trillion seconds would be about 32,000 years. And $10 trillion still won't change the climate.