Bless their hearts, they care. . .

Isn't it wonderful that leftist academics want to save us from "doom scrolling" when they are the ones who elected the current deadbeat in the White House, who thought Trump was terrible for talking to the president of Ukraine who is now fighting for his life, who refused to listen to the well researched information about Hunter Biden being on the payroll of the CCP and Ukrainian Oligarchs, who just loved working from home when little kids were being masked and forced to loose 2 years of schooling. It's just so sweet of them to be concerned about our foul mood now that Biden has been proven even to die hard greengoes that he's a disaster. Well, thanks for nothing! I tried to go to the original publication, but is was so littered with trans, BLM and covid articles, I had to stop doom scrolling.

https://www.llrx.com/2022/03/ukraine-doomscrolling-can-harm-your-cognition-as-well-as-your-mood-heres-what-to-do-about-it/

"Doomscrolling can promote feelings of anxiety and depression. For example, consider how sad and exhausted you may feel when watching a drama with tragic events and sad music in the background. In contrast, if you watch a funny film or romantic comedy with lively music, you may feel upbeat and energised. This is due to two psychological phenomena: “mood induction” (an intervention that can change our mood) and empathy.

Serotonin is an important brain chemical for regulating mood, and it can drop when we are chronically stressed or saddened by bad news for extended periods of time. Studies show that it is even possible to exacerbate the effects of reducing serotonin in healthy people through mood induction by playing sad music. Pharmacological treatments which increase serotonin are used to treat depression and anxiety.

Empathy is a good trait which helps us live successfully with others and promotes a flourishing society. However, excessive empathy, when viewing tragic world events on the news, may lead to ruminating on negative thoughts, which have an impact on our mental health and wellbeing. Constantly thinking negative thoughts can lead to depression or anxiety."

Catching up on crime

I was reading about the Yale director who stole $40 million in electronics equipment from her employer and spent it on lavish living. She's out on bond. Piker. That made me think of the trusted Dixon, IL employee who stole $54 million from the little town of Dixon, with a population of only 15,000. She was into horses, not computers. The largest heist of municipal funds in history. She was released from prison early last year after serving half her 20 year sentence. Made her case for early release on risk of Covid in prison. https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/rita-crundwell-stole-54-million-then-returned-to-the-scene-of-the-crime/

The architecture and ambiance of Ukraine

It seems American architects are boycotting doing work in Russia. That's probably a good idea, but does Russia really need them? I've seen a few videos of cities in Ukraine, both before and after the war, and it looks to me like it was a very beautiful country before the invasion, with lovely thoroughfares, graceful trees and parks, and grand public spaces.

One tourist site states (and it's their job to be over the top): "Ukraine is possibly one of the most overlooked countries in Europe. Although it might stay under the radar when it comes to Eastern European travel, this just makes visiting Ukraine even more of a hidden gem and a true travel treasure. From powerful architecture to sandy beaches and lush vegetation, Ukraine has it all."  https://expatexplore.com/blog/ukraine-best-places-to-visit/

This female tourist guide assures you it is quite safe to travel in Ukraine, but that was February 24, which I believe was the day of the invasion. She stressed the reasonable prices.  Still you can see the photos. https://www.mywanderlust.pl/best-places-to-visit-in-ukraine/ 

However, she does praise some Soviet era architecture, which I don't care for at all.

The U.S. public architecture is very ugly.  Even if it's barely 40 years, when it is torn down.  I shudder when I drive by or have to visit the "brutalism" style of our Ohio History Connection (the historical society) building which resembles either a square mushroom or a box without wheels.  It's even worse insides--a perpetual basement no matter where you stand.

How Big Tech stifles free speech and encourages evil

 

Progressives have to pay the rent, so they go woke not to go broke

Remember the pain of the liberal/progressive journalist. "You cannot pay rent if you offend people." They go along to get along. They don't believe the woke nonsense anymore than we do, but they have to pay the rent. Listen to Eve Barlow's tale.

"In the summer of 2020, George Floyd was killed by a white police officer, and Black Lives Matter protests erupted in cities all over the United States. I feel comfortable saying this now: I felt conflicted. I remember surrendering to the peer pressure to donate every single day, and to post receipts of those donations (like I was in trouble for something—oh yeah, being “white”). I remember my Instagram stories were just re-post after re-post of this, that and the other activist, of whom I had no background knowledge, but who I was told were the people to re-post. I’ve since unfollowed them all because all of them showed themselves to be antisemitic. 

I was performing. I was absolutely performing. And I am not ashamed to admit it. I was so scared. I was still a hired freelance journalist, and I knew the impact of staying silent. Freelance writing isn’t a joke. You cannot pay rent if you offend people. So I kept a foot in the world of music writing, and with my paychecks, I splurged on bailing out protestors via GoFundMe pages, or whatnot. At least, I think I did. Who knows?" (Eve Barlow, music journalist) "A ghost story," Common Sense with Bari Weiss.

Biden's responses--at least he didn't tweet

At least he didn't tweet while in Europe. He just terrified most of the world, however. His staff must wait by the minute for the next shoe to drop. Soon he'll be Imelda Marcos with 3,000 pairs of shoes.

The Museum of the Bible--a treasury of information and history

Today I've been listening to podcasts from The Museum of the Bible. https://www.museumofthebible.org/museum-of-the-bible-podcast   Great programs and panels. If you thought diversity and inclusion weren't possible, you need this channel. This is true diversity--of ideas, of history, of stories. Today I've listened to programs on the Mayflower Compact, the origins of the Armenian Bible and Christianity in the 400s, and the Jews in England in the 1100s. Fabulous stuff. Others I'll check out later are at least four presentations on the Haggadah, the Bible and the Qur'an, Shroud of Turin, and the Bible and War.

 Also, how do you teach middle school students about American history? USE PRIMARY SOURCES. Let them speak for themselves if you want to smash the lies of the 1619 project. Let President Lincoln remind you what he believed about slavery, and not "woke" ideologs from the NYT. A real treasure.

From the website: "On November 18, [2021] the museum will host a panel discussion on the 1620 Mayflower Compact — the shortest American political document of enduring significance. With these few words, however, the Pilgrims sowed the seeds of liberty and self-government that made their small New England settlement a cradle of American democracy. This event will explore the idea that these seventeenth-century Pilgrims were the true forerunners of America’s Founders and examine the Compact as a blueprint used to frame this nation's founding principles as embedded in the US Constitution."

"On October 21, 2021: Does the importance of the Bible extend beyond Jewish and Christian traditions? How has the Bible played a role in the origins and development of Islam? Join Museum of the Bible for a discussion about the relationship between the Bible and the Qur’an. Hear from Dr. Gabriel Reynolds – author of The Qur’an and the Bible and Allah: God in the Qur’an – on how the Qur’an is part of the larger story of the Bible’s impact on the world. The evening will include a panel of engaging respondents and an audience Q & A. This is both an in-person and virtual event."

What's going on with Pope Francis?

On March 12, Pope Francis went to the Jesuit Church of the Gesú in Rome for a Mass on the occasion of the 400^th anniversary of the canonizations of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. The pope preached at the Mass and concelebrated. He had earlier been scheduled to be the principal celebrant, but Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Society of Jesus, for some reason, was the principal celebrant instead.
           
          Liturgical theology and law do not countenance that a bishop, let alone the diocesan bishop in his own diocese, concelebrate Mass with a priest as the principal celebrant (apart from a grave necessity, such as infirmity). This flows from the nature of the episcopal office: the bishop is the high priest in his diocese. He offers the sacrifice of the Mass for his people, while his priests, co-workers who serve the local Church under his authority, concelebrate with him.

 The Mass began with the usual entrance procession. Pope Francis was already seated in a chair near the altar. He wore no liturgical vestments, and thus gave no indication that he was either concelebrating or presiding. He preached without wearing the liturgical garments (mozetta, rochet, and stole) that are prescribed to be worn when the preacher is not the one celebrating the Mass. 

He concelebrated, extending his hand and saying the words of consecration, without wearing Mass vestments (alb, stole, and chasuble). This practice is strictly forbidden. In its 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Congregation for Divine Worship stated: “The abuse is reprobated whereby the sacred ministers celebrate Holy Mass or other rites without sacred vestments.”
 

More at The Catholic Thing, https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2022/03/22/papal-abuse-of-liturgical-law/

We Protestants are just happy when the pastor doesn't wear jeans with holes and athletic shoes.

Democrats' War against Women

I hate to use Aljazeera as a news source (owned by a Qatar magnate, but probably not as oppressive as Twitter, FB or Jeff Bezos' WaPo), but our own MSM don't report the news if it doesn't fit the theme of the day, which since October 2020 is "cover for Biden." Another example of the Democrats' WAR ON WOMEN.

"The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has announced that girls’ high schools will be closed, hours after they reopened for the first time in nearly seven months. The backtracking by the Taliban means female students above the sixth grade will not be able to attend school." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/23/taliban-orders-girls-schools-shut-hours-after-reopening

When George Bush after consulting with both parties and allies and getting approval, took U.S. into Afghanistan after 9-11, he liberated more women in the 21st century than Lincoln did slaves in the 19th century according to the Atlantic--hardly a right wing Bush loving magazine. When Biden executed his disastrous, inhumane and dangerous exit last August, killing many civilians and U.S. soldiers, he had approval from no one, at least no one who now admits it.

Democrats are waging a WAR ON WOMEN, not just U.S. women, but Afghans and Uyghurs and the poor souls of many nations who try to break into our country at the border where Biden dangles all sorts of goodies which puts them and their children at great risk for sex slavery.

I also got a warning from Facebook because of a poster I put up about his shutting down Keystone and buying oil from Russia:

"Fact Check: Russian Oil Ban, Blocked Keystone XL Are NOT Only Causes of Gas Hikes | Lead Stories"

But I never said it was the ONLY cause of gas hikes. I also didn't say Hunter's lap top scandal was covered up by FB, or that I'm a trans-reporter pretending to be from a major news source, so I suppose that's another problem--I didn't tell the whole story of Biden's crimes.

By far the biggest reason for inflation and price hikes for oil is the scarcity--created by Biden's threats in 2020 that he would shut down the industry in favor of green technology. It's why we're buying from Russia and the middle east. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4917719/user-clip-biden-destroy-oil-industry  There are milions invested in every search for fossil fuel--and the lag time between "striking oil" refining it, and getting it to the gas station you pass on your way to work is about 2 years.  Good luck finding investors who didn't take Biden seriously.  It doesn't hurt them to sit back and wait for a sane president--they are rich--but it does hurt you at the pump.

The Hunter Biden Laptop and the efforts to cover it up

Hunter Biden's "laptop turned up in September 2020, and by October, there should have been an enormous story following up on the New York Post’s reporting. But outside of the conservative media, it was a nonstory. Now the Post says, “the story was censored by social media companies at the behest of the Democratic Party. Mainstream media outlets — including the (New York) Times — attacked or ignored the Post’s revelations.” The Biden campaign claimed the story was part of a Russian disinformation campaign — another instance of Trump supposedly colluding with the Russians. What is more, over 50 intelligence community adepts signed a letter claiming the Post story had “the classic earmarks of a Russian disinformation operation.” These intelligence community adepts really have it in for Trump. I wonder why? They are not supposed to be so partisan, are they?

Now The New York Times has published a story — 17 months after the Post published its story — that the Hunter Biden laptop exists and the evidence that the Post has published is true, without mentioning the Post by name. That is to say, the Times validated the Post’s story 16 months after the Big Guy won the presidency. The Times seems to be admitting to participating in a vast cover-up. Why would it? Does it think that its readers only know what appears in The New York Times? Apparently, the news is not news until the Times says it is. Nowhere in the Times’ long and tedious report of the Hunter Biden story is the Post mentioned, though the Times’ story is basically using the Post’s reportage.
I can think of no better example of The New York Times existing in a bubble than the Times’ treatment of this story. In fact, I can think of no better example of the American left — which I no longer call liberal — living in a bubble than its treatment of this story. America really is a divided country. There is the conservative part of America, and there is the left-wing part of America. " R. Emmett Tyrell https://patriotpost.us/opinion/87154-joes-little-big-guy-2022-03-24

According to this NYT article, the FBI has had the laptop since December 2019 so it had been covered up for a long time time before Rudy Giuliani got a copy of the it in 2020! The story explains how Giuliani got a copy of it. Huge government cover up! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/us/politics/hunter-biden-laptop.html

The swamp creatures within the government definitely did not want Trump in the White House!

Brown-Jackson has it all

Ketanji Brown Jackson can't define "woman" and doesn't know what to do about child victims of pornography. She'll be approved as our next Supreme Court Justice. Whether or not she can define "woman," she was nominated because she is one. 

KBJ is a package deal for the Left. There must be no boundaries for sexuality--people must be free--even to pretend to be another sex (but don't you dare culturally appropriate an Indian name). There must be no boundaries for the country, either. Vilify anyone who isn't at least brown, but if a Republican he's white and racist. Laws and customs are just repression of desires. Teach the kiddoes to be confused about sexuality and have the little ones taught at library story hour by men dressed as hypersexualized women. Turn Planned Parenthood loose in the schools to teach masturbation and contraception to underage children, then offer abortions. Ridicule marriage and monogamy. Encourage the suppression of religion. Push the birth rate below replacement level. Feminize the men and turn them into snowflakes so they'll want to become women--something KBJ can't define. Put little boys at a disadvantage for 30 years and then punish them for failing at being men. Dress both sexes alike, unless they are transwomen, then pump them full of hormones and put them in thick make-up and bangles and beads. Make them a news spectacle as "first woman to be on the board of xyz." It's the ultimate feminist hatred of men, and ultimately of themselves, women.

Can she define the word woman? No.

Ketanji Brown Jackson can't define the word "woman" although she was nominated for a place on the highest court in the land for that reason, and she's very soft on the crime of possession of child porn. What's wrong with this? Nothing, according to Joe Biden. Considering his crimes, I suppose that makes some sense to them, because the excuse is other judges are lenient too. What about the children? I didn't go to Harvard or Yale (8 of the 9 judges are from 2 law schools), but I can define woman and I know when children are used to satisfy the lust of adults in mailed publications or internet sites, the adults whether perps or consumers need to be in jail for the maximum allowed, not a slap on the wrist.

When Annaliese Dodds (British government position for women's rights) was asked to define woman, she also, like Judge Brown-Jackson, wouldn't do it. Carl Trueman in First Things writes, "To be qualified for a job, one must have a basic understanding of the specific task at hand. The car mechanic needs to know what a car is; the brain surgeon needs to be able to recognize the brain. A politician tasked with safeguarding women’s rights should therefore know what a woman is and be able to articulate that understanding in public statements. “What is a woman?” hardly seems an unexpected or unfair question to ask the shadow secretary for women. And yet she fluffed it." . . .

"Trans ideology robs women of their history and takes male privilege to a whole new level—all in the name of women’s rights. Like the idea that pornography liberates women, transgender theory is arguably one of the most effective male confidence tricks in recent history: Nothing that women can lay claim to as women is now off-limits for men. Hugh Hefner once declared that Playboy was good for women, to which Fr. Richard John Neuhaus responded, “As long as women know what they are good for.” Today, the progressive lobby presents trans rights as good for women, to which I might respond, “As long as women have no idea what a woman is.” " https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2022/03/liturgy-of-the-powers

The Last Walk by Roland Lane

Last Walk

For me it was a poignant video moment from the hundreds we have witnessed from Ukraine in the last two weeks. Perhaps you saw it too. A father and son walked hand in hand toward a town or city. The son was about four or five years old and was wearing a yellow parka or slicker of some sort. The father was in his late twenties or early thirties. He looked over the head of his son as three or four adults passed by going the opposite direction. Those individuals were carrying backpacks or some type of luggage. Our small family of father and son carried nothing. The video footage lasted about four seconds, but the image spoke the language of this war. What do you say and what are you thinking in what may be the last walk with your son?

My thoughts flew back to the happy memories when I walked hand in hand with my father as we shuffled along through the golden leaves of a bright autumn day in Circleville, Ohio. Circleville was the home of the Circleville Pumpkin show and we walked from where we parked our car on Washington Avenue to Main Street and turned right where parade officials were lining up the floats for the afternoon parade. For me that corner of Washington and Main was magic. Great piles of leaves and brightly decorated floats greeted us along with the aroma of spiced tea, coffee, chocolate, elephant ears, minced chicken sandwiches and pumpkin pie. It was five years after the end of World War II. I was five years old and one of the first baby boomers, a part of the magnificent class of 1945 and a happy recipient of the blessings of peace.

In springtime my focus shifted to Newark, Ohio the childhood home of my mother. On Sundays our family walked a block to church on Western Avenue a street lined with cottonwood trees. It was springtime, and the Cottonwoods dispatched millions of white cotton-like wisps to greet little kids walking to church. The cotton wisps covered lawns and parked cars and on windy days it looked like a snowstorm. I walked hand in hand with my grandmother and I knew from the earliest memories I was not an ordinary grandson. There was a warm and wonderful connection with Grandma Cora that I did not fully understand until much later. My grandma’s eldest son, my uncle Mark died in the last months of the war. I was born six weeks after it ended. I did not discover until much later in life that my grandma Cora saw me as the replacement for the lost son.

My father lived a good life. He was the best man I ever met and although he was almost 92 when he died, all the earlier joys and happy times did not make it easy for me. It was a little past 9:30 am and I and my dad were in his hospital room alone together. I moved his oxygen mask away from his face and bent down to speak into his right ear while I nervously watched the numbers plummet on the oxygen monitor on our upper left. I spoke eight words and he four. My dad and I both knew it was our last conversation. It was one of the shortest conversations in my life and simultaneously it was the most dramatic and most intimate. Be it physical, emotional or mental, most of us will take a last walk with a loved one.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are now taking that last walk. Much of this might have been avoided had the U.S. leadership not botched the exit and abandoned thousands of friends in Afghanistan. Now, the world watches Taiwan. Biden stubbornly hangs on to the notion of “no oil from here” and begs oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Are we all now in agreement that Biden cannot distinguish friends from enemies? This might be the last walk for the United States.

 
Roland Lane, March 20

Fearing for the safety of Finland and the world

Note to a friend in Finland, which was at one time part of the Russian empire.

"I do hope no one in Finland is counting on Biden to save you from Putin. When he's reclaimed Ukraine for his restored empire, he'll come after the rest of you. Biden is worthless. Our military is very weak. He's making deals with Iran and so is Putin. At first he was a laughing stock; now he's just evil."

https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-crisis/finland-and-sweden-receive-letters-from-putin-demanding-security-guarantees-for-russia-articleshow.html

And in March 2014: "After annexing Crimea and with troops massed on the border of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will not stop trying to expand Russia until he has “conquered” Belarus, the Baltic states and Finland, one of his closest former advisers has said." (Independent, pay wall)

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/will-russia-invade-finland-why-not-nato-how-likely-attack-putin-1496734

Letter to a Democrat friend, January 2, 2001

It's amazing what turns up in old e-mails. Sometimes I can't get them to open. But the one I'm using for this "memory" was copied to a Word Document. If you remember the millennium scare when the experts thought all computers would fail because no one had programmed them to turn over to 2000, you'll understand why I sometimes don't know what year these were sent unless there are events to which I can connect. The computers continued to work, but didn't record the dates!

About this letter/e-mail. This reply was written January 2, 2001, I know because I mentioned the death of my mom (January 2000) and the December visit of my father. Also we discussed the election of George W. Bush. I was answering a note from a friend I hadn't seen for a long time who was about 30 years younger and had been in our small group from church.  From the context it had been about 5 years since we'd been together. We were both Democrats, although I had voted for Bush in November 2000 because of the abortion issue. I remember we went to her wedding a few years before; I heard years later that they were divorced. She apparently had said something in her letter, which I don't have,  that triggered these comments from me--still a registered Democrat, but ready to leave the party. In the letter below, if something is in parentheses, it's in the original, but something in brackets means I added it today to clarify. Also, I've changed personal names to letters.  Also, one more thing.  When I told my husband about finding this e-mail, he had no recollection of Barbara or our attending her wedding.

Dear Barbara,

It was good to get your e-mail of December 5 and find out what is going on in your lives. I'm happy you've found a believers' church. The Mill Run church opened a year ago [New Year's Eve 2000], but we still attend Lytham. [Comments followed about her deciding not to have children--she was adopted, and her adoptive parents had divorced--I think it was not a happy family.]

You may recall that I am also a registered Democrat--even voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992--mainly because Gore was on the ticket. Notice in my x-mas letter I didn't say which party was stealing the election, but you seemed to know--hmmm.) But I've voted Republican in the last 2 elections [1996, 2000] because they more closely represent what I think is important--human lives, not human lifestyle. I believe abortion is the defining issue of our time as was slavery 150 years ago. Each era has its problems it needs to solve. The difference is 150 years ago Christians (particularly women) were in the forefront trying to reverse a terrible crime against humanity, now women are the great perpetrators. The church just falls in line and tries to pretend it will go away if no one speaks out. The ethical standards of Christians seem to be no different than the rest of society.

The other day on the Rush Limbaugh program I heard a Republican woman complaining about "one issue" Republicans (she was pro-choice), and Rush said he didn't think there was such a thing, but where else could a pro-life person like me go? Four years of a Republican president might save many lives--maybe more if he gets the right people on the Supreme Court and partial birth abortion goes back to the slime pits where it belongs.

Bush has said he is against partial birth abortion and we hope he follows through. Where else could your vote save lives? That Clinton and Gore are Christians (and I believe they are) meant nothing once in office. Gore used to be pro-life (and he seemed to be capable of telling the truth before he became vice president) and he flip flopped for political power--maybe Bush will do the same, but for now I think he sees that wing of the party--those one-issue folks--still has some clout. In just the year 2000, we got partial birth abortion, research on human embryos and the abortion drug RU-486. So there is definitely a slippery slope and it's getting steeper. I think "death" is Clinton's legacy that he's been looking for--more deaths than a major war. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are coming down the pike, and if the Christians' stand on abortion is any indication, it is the gateway to new ways to "make choices."

You said you were thinking of leaving the country if Bush was elected. I don't remember Republicans threatening to leave if Clinton won in 1992 but perhaps they did (some Perot supporters may have in the next election), and Bush got a higher percentage of the popular vote than Clinton ever did. Democrats had the power for 40 years in the legislature, and I think the Republicans stuck it out. If you believe the Democrats are right about the Microsoft suit and it was necessary to hamstring our technology growth, and they were right to strangle our power sources so we have rolling brown-outs and gasoline shortages, and they were right to weaken U.S. by diminishing and demoralizing the military, then you should stick around and fight for your principles. Then maybe in 4 years you can have it all back--but in the meanwhile, if there are layoffs in technology or gasoline shortages, or power outages, remember those were your guys.

Our group keeps on going--like the energizer bunny--but sometimes I think we are the halt and the lame. But it keeps us on our knees! We have 14, 2 widows and 6 couples. X and Y still struggle but they come. Y suffers from a mental illness but is on medication. S continues to have small strokes--her daughter got married this past year. We thought perhaps J had Alzheimer's, but he had brain surgery to relieve some kind of pressure and is now OK. We took in a new couple about 3 years ago, and another new couple this year. N and D, our graduates, still come to special events. J and L and G and P moved out of town. N's dad died in the fall at 104--he was also X's grandfather.

We had a wonderful visit with my 87 y/o Dad in early December. I miss Mom, but have really enjoyed getting to know him better this past year. She was so easy to love and we all enjoyed her wisdom, counsel and love. He's a bit more difficult, but I've been so impressed with his bravery this past year.

I'll close now, and wait to hear from you in five years. I'll send you my family's story [not sure what I was referring to] in snail mail. Hope this doesn't clog your mailbox!

Norma

Hollywood's new Red Scare

"Another writer, who, like most of the writers we interviewed, was afraid to speak openly for fear of never working again, said: “I get so paranoid about even phone calls. It’s so scary. My close friends and my family are just like, ‘Don’t say anything.’ It is one of those things, ‘Will I be able to sleep at night if I say anything?’ Getting jobs in this town is so hard, and I’m very grateful to have a great job. If there’s any so-called ding on my record, that would just be an argument against hiring me.” "

Sounds like something right out of the 1950s, when Hollywood feared the HUAC, the Red Scare, and the Blacklist. Ironic that now it's WOKEISM, just another form of Communism that is causing fear, anger and lost jobs for Hollywood. MeToo meets George Floyd meets diversity quotas. Well, we hadn't been to a movie theatre in years. Never too early to give up on a dying Hollywood altogether.

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/hollywoods-new-rules?

Found in Grandma's Bible--If we only understood

On Sunday morning I wanted to check how the word "charity" was used in I Corinthians, and looked at my grandmother's Bible, a 1901 American Standard Version. By 1901, the American Edition used the word "love" and not "charity" as in the 1611 King James Version. And although the copyright date was 1901, it had really been revised in 1885. (Long story).  I'm not sure this was her study Bible which she had used when they went to Chicago for a spring class at Bethany Seminary because it only had a few notes in the margins in what looked like her "older" frail handwriting after she'd had a slight stroke in the 1930s.  But I found a yellowed clipping, probably from the Brethren Gospel Messenger printed in the 1930s.  It was a poem by Rudyard Kipling.  

IF WE ONLY UNDERSTOOD

If we knew the cares and trials.
Knew the efforts all in vain,
And the bitter disappointment,
Understood the loss and gain--
Would the grim eternal roughness
Seem— I wonder— just the same?
Should we help where we now hinder?
Should we pity where we blame?

 
Ah! we judge each other harshly,
Knowing not life’s hidden force;
Knowing not the fount of action
Is less turbid at its source;
Seeing not amid the evil
All the golden grains of good;
And we’d love each other better
If we only understood.

Could we judge all deeds by motives,
that surround each other’s lives,
See the naked heart and spirit,
Knowing what spur the action gives,
Often we would find it better,
Purer than we judge we should,
We would love each other better
If we only understood.
(By Rudyard Kipling)

In the 19th and 20th century newspaper editors did not always check the sources of material that fit the space, if it was credited at all. So I decided to Google the title of this poem. The first version of this I found was at a website called Virginia Chronicle which had microfilm copies of serials published in Virginia. I found the poem attributed to Kipling in the Highlander Recorder, Monterey, Virginia, for Friday, September 30, 1927, however a few lines in the third verse were slightly different. Also, a version of it appeared in the May 25, 1915 Salina [KS] Semi-Weekly Journal.

So I continued to look, and found DiscoverPoetry.com website which seems to be for children. It had a poem by the ever famous "anonymous" which had the verses and lines arranged differently, plus it had four verses. https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/anonymous/if-we-understood/

Could we but draw back the curtains
That surround each other's lives,
See the naked heart and spirit,
Know what spur the action gives,
Often we should find it better,
Purer than we judged we should,
We should love each other better,
If we only understood.

Could we judge all deeds by motives,
See the good and bad within,
Often we should love the sinner
All the while we loathe the sin;
Could we know the powers working
To o'erthrow integrity,
We should judge each other's errors
With more patient charity.

If we knew the cares and trials,
Knew the effort all in vain,
And the bitter disappointment,
Understood the loss and gain—
Would the grim, eternal roughness
Seem—I wonder—just the same?
Should we help where now we hinder,
Should we pity where we blame?

Ah! we judge each other harshly,
Knowing not life's hidden force;
Knowing not the fount of action
Is less turbid at its source;
Seeing not amid the evil
All the golden grains of good;
Oh! we'd love each other better,
If we only understood.

Then I found that version as a hymn by Anonymous in "The New Gospel Song Book: a rare collection of songs designed for Christian Work and Worship," Firm Foundation Publishing House (1914) p. 118

The poem "If" by Kipling is quite famous, but I can find nothing in his list of works resembling this poem, which apparently really is by Anon/Author unknown and misattributed to him.  But Grandma and others suffering through the Great Depression and a few American editors loved it.

Dark chocolate morsels

I haven't been able to get Hersey Dark Chocolate Nuggets lately where I shop, but did find some dark chocolate Dove red foil wrapped "promises." Today's wraps for the 2 of us were "Don't wait for sleep to start dreaming," "Be fearlessly authentic," "A smile is the quickest way to brighten a room," and "Be(you)tiful." Dark chocolate is good for your brain and heart; milk chocolate just adds waist.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16774-heart-healthy-benefits-of-chocolate

Praying for Anna

Fixed hour prayer time observances are very old in the Judeo-Christian worship traditions--Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Episcopal--but not in mine. I've made one up--6, 9, 12, 3, 6 and 9 and am praying for a fictional Russian grandmother (great-grandmother) who is my age and I've named Anna Ivanovna. She represents all Russian grandmothers whose grandchildren will go back to Russia in body bags because of Putin's foolishness in wanting to reestablish ancient Russia. So in my mind's eye she is 82. Although data for the early 1940s on life expectancy in Russia have been lost due to the war, she's lived beyond the average. In her formative years she would have been nutritionally deprived. She's educated but lost her government job and pension when the USSR collapsed. I don't blame her for not believing her government run news or Putin about what's going on in Ukraine. She doesn't even have a tradition of a free and honest press; I do/did and can't believe mine either! In my fictional grandma story, her father (Ivan) died before she knew him in WWII; her grandfather died in the Stalin purges of the 1930s; her great grandparents were children of emancipated serfs and lived through the turmoil of 1905 and 1917.

The corruption of banks

It's bad enough that our taxes fund the deaths of the unborn due to clever politicians' machinations--now our banks and investments with women in the board room are tainted? This is to further entrench the idea that a job can replace a family and the lie that abortion is "women's health care."

 
"One of America's largest banking corporations [Citigroup] is reportedly shelling out cash [for travel] to help employees circumvent state abortion laws." (The Blaze)

You may recall, this is how we ended up with employee benefits tied to jobs, which then later were assumed to be necessary for all. After WWII when there was a shortage of good workers with salaries and wages frozen (The Stabilization Act), larger companies began offering paid health insurance to circumvent government laws.

Two years ago during the Covid war. . .

Looking back two years ago, Ohio had 67 cases of Covid-19 and zero deaths. And yet on social media and main stream media Trump's enemies were saying president Trump should have been taking action in December 2019! They'd decided by March to side with Communists and claim he was a racist for calling it a Chinese virus even though a month before that was the term the media used. After three years of insulting him, calling him a traitor, demented, deplorable, not my president, racist, etc. they flipped completely and claimed he should have known more than all the bureaucrats, academics, scientists and career politicians who study and make laws and regulations about viruses and infectious diseases. These are the same folks who ten years before gave Obama a complete pass on the Swine flu epidemic. These are the same people who sued the president every time he tried to close our border, then howled when he didn’t shut down the economy six weeks before the lethality of Covid was known. They assigned to Trump the powers and intelligence of a deity or maybe just a dictator. Then when he kept his word about funding a vaccine within a year, they ridiculed him, said they would never trust it because his fingerprints were on it, and turned around to take the credit and mandate its use.

Now we're in a new kind of war (or the old kind) and Biden is negotiating with Iran using Russia as the intermediary to restore Iran's power to develop nuclear weapons. We need to stop calling Biden demented and compromised, and acknowledge he's the worst snake in the grass, worse than Putin, and the most evil destroyer of our country we've ever faced (and all with the same lies from media and Big Tech that worked against us in the Trump administration).

The difference between men and women

"The gender gap in athletic performance, as shown in records from Olympic competition, has remained stable since 1983. The mean difference has been about 10 percent between men and women for all events. The mean gap is 10.7 percent for running, 8.9 percent for swimming and 17.5 percent for jumping. When performances improve, the improvements are proportional for each gender." 

A well trained, in shape, female athlete can out perform a male non-athlete. Female equestrians can compete on a par with males because of their physical balance and concentration.

 
This article will probably be taken down as "hate research," (2018), so read it while it's available.

https://www.sportsrec.com/6580144/how-do-men-and-women-differ-athletically

Biden's terrorists compared to Trump's terrorists

Biden is "Poised To Remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp From Terror List To Wrap Up Nuke Deal" (headline Mar 16, 2022) so he can restore Obama's dangerous nuclear deal. Yet his Secretary Mayorkas of DHS is bullying parents as "violent domestic terrorists" if they speak out about trans-indoctrination for kindergartners and CRT reeducation camps in our schools or voters who investigate fraud in the 2020 election or federal employees who speak out against government abuses. Whose side is Biden on? American citizens, or Islamic terrorists?  https://www.scribd.com/document/564349619/Report-to-the-Secretary-of-Homeland-Security-Domestic-Violent-Extremism-Internal-Review-Observations-Findings-And-Recommendations#from_embed

"US President Donald Trump officially designated the IRGC a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019, imposing sanctions on the group. The IRGC has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks around the globe, including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia and an attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US on American soil. It provides arms and training to terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen." https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324094

Why is Dr. Fauci untouchable? The Forbes story

Adam Andrzejewski “published 206 investigations while writing an estimated quarter million words on the platform.” His targets were bipartisan, outing Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and plenty of others. But then. . . he wrote about Dr. Fauci. Bye, bye. After extensive digging and overcoming NIH foot-dragging, Andrzejewski discovered that Fauci and his wife, Christine Grady, chief bioethicist at NIH, are worth more than $10.4 million, and they rake in major money for a lot of things. Andrzejewski’s reporting held up under scrutiny, even from the National Institutes of Health, which found only minor semantics corrections to complain about. Nevertheless, it seems that pressure from NIH got Andrzejewski cut from Forbes’s lineup.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/86911-in-brief-how-fact-finding-fauci-led-to-my-cancellation-2022-03-15

from the original article at https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/factfindingfaucicanceledforbes?s=r

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2022/01/12/no-faucis-records-arent-available-online-why-wont-nih-immediately-release-them/?sh=766d1f7e46bd  Story about Fauci's financials NOT being public and transparent

"Two [NIH] directors, two bureau chiefs, and two top PR officers didn’t send an email to the Forbes’ chief on a Sunday morning because they wanted to correct the record about Fauci’s travel reimbursements.

They sent that email to subliminally send a message: We don’t like Andrzejewski’s oversight work, and we want you to do something about it.

Unfortunately, Forbes folded quickly."

The Tulsi and Tucker are treasonous meme

When Mark Levine, Mitt Romney, Keith Olbermann and the ladies of the view all think it is treasonous and you/we are a Russian assets to question whether there are bio-labs in Ukraine and perhaps we should be cautious about no fly zones and expanding the war zone, then we have a truly divided nation. Democrats against Democrats and Republicans against Republicans; twitter mobs and Tik Tok influencers against long time investigators; Christians against Christians, and military veterans against people who never served a day; liberal minorities against illiberal minorities; and women who are ignoramuses against women who have done something with their lives--I tell you--it's makes my head spin. Especially when we're into our third year of the government lying to us about the source and funding of a virus that has locked us all up for two years! A government that says you must be silenced if you can't support the non-science that men are women; a government that says there was no flimflamming in the 2020 election; a government that sends a cackling airhead to Europe and Poland to further convince our allies of our weak, feckless administration. The world is indeed a global crazy town.

Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches--different but the same

"Look, major saints of the Slavic Orthodox Church — and I’m talking about Ukrainian Russian Orthodox Church and Serbian, what have you — a lot of them are of Ukrainian descent. Ukraine has produced the fathers of Orthodox Church that have served in Russia, Serbia, Moldova, Romania, in other parts of the world, including Middle East and in Jerusalem. Ukrainians have contributed to the fabric — into the mosaic — of the spiritual entity of who we are as Orthodox Christians.

We are two distinct groups of people, Russians and Ukrainians. We’re people of one faith — we’re Christians. But our cultural background makes us different. Because of the impact that Western society has had on Ukraine, people the Western Ukraine, and in general in Ukraine, are open to their whole idea of self entities, identifying themselves as Christians and asking themselves valid question, “Why am I a Christian? Why am I Orthodox? Why am I doing the ritual I’m doing? Why am I living the way I live?”

In the northern part, or the northern neighbor, the Russian Federation, they would often use the teachings of the saints of the church and imply that you are not worthy of anything as a person, as a child of God, to accomplish anything in order to fully and truly approach him with your worthiness. Two distinct approaches to the sanctity of human life."  https://religionnews.com/2022/02/25/a-religious-politician-head-of-ukrainian-orthodox-church-of-the-usa-slams-patriarch-kirill-putin/

The history of Russia and Ukraine, as partners and as enemies

This article is from "Plain News" a paper for plain people, conservative Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite and Brethren. It's an opinion piece on what is behind the invasion of Ukraine. It has a good history going back 1000 years, and a partial motivation about the NATO policy and expansion (I don't really think that is so strong because even if Russia owned Ukraine, NATO would still be on its border just as it would be if Ukraine were part of NATO.

https://www.plainnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Why-is-Russia-invading-Ukraine-___-Plain-News-3-9-22-1.pdf

"The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO in 1999; Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004; Albania and Croatia joined in 2009, Montenegro in 2017, and North Macedonia in 2020. NATO reports that Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine are all currently seeking membership. Almost all of these countries were previously a part of either the Soviet Union and/or the Warsaw Pact military alliance. Russia has viewed this NATO expansion to its very borders with much trepidation . . . "

YouTube channels--addictive time wasters

Do you ever watch the YouTube channels? Today I wasted a huge amount of time watching 3 videos of Top Notch Lawn Care. Yup. Watched a guy cleaning up the worst yards and lawns you've ever seen. Thousands of viewers and many comments. It was sort of satisfying after all the war footage and the hopeless mess our politicians get us into. As my mom who remodeled her parents' farm home as a religious retreat center used to say, "I can't save the world but I can save 4 acres." I think that must be how this guy believes.

Older adult ministry at UALC

 On December 29, 2021, I wrote a letter to a "ministry" (don't know who read it since there was no personal name) which was no longer on the schedule when our church reopened after the Covid lockdown. For over two decades there had been a Thursday morning Bible study mostly attended by retirees, although there were a few younger adults who attended. There were also attendees from the retirement communities near by, and by members of other churches. I attended only occasionally until the last few years. I could see that it met a lot of needs, especially social and mental stimulation.  There was a once a month luncheon after the study with interesting programs, sometimes about social services offered in the community, or volunteer opportunities, or featuring an interesting member of the congregation or artists in conjunction with the visual arts ministry. Here's the letter--there's no "dear pastor" since I didn't have a name:

"I read through the [winter] offerings and am wondering why the Thursday morning study has not been reinstated. Your ears must be burning for all the times members of that group discuss it during Sunday coffee time. It’s one of the longest running ministries that I’m aware of in the church. I retired in 2000, have participated at different times, but it was going strong when I was still employed. I know of no group that was more affected by the church lockdown/closure than this age group. It provided intellectual stimulation, a service opportunity for some, fellowship, occasionally lunch, and friendships. Not everyone in the group is an elder, and some are not members of UALC, so it also does outreach. Many do not use social media (which UALC provides) so it’s a chance to connect—as essential as the smart phones are for the teens. Loss of the Sunday church bulletin has also affected this group more—its reinstatement would mean more than card stock handouts suggesting volunteer opportunities or special needs.

If this older adult group is to be eliminated, perhaps you could announce it."

I'm happy to report that the group met today at 10:30 a.m., about 2 years to the day that the church closed in 2020. I didn't count, but there was a very large group--I'm guessing maybe 50. The study was led by our senior pastor, Steve Turnbull speaking on "Jesus is Lord," and there was good group participation. We also sang two familiar hymns (singing is good for the health) and had prayer.   It was followed at noon by the mid-week Lenten service in the sanctuary which included communion and a nice lunch (soup, salad, hot drinks, corn bread, and ice cream with a cookie).  The three groups didn't necessarily overlap with some who came to the church service weren't at the Bible study, and some at the Bible study didn't stay for church or lunch. There were already many isolated, lonely people in this group, particularly widows and widowers, who looked forward to this program, and the lockdown hurt them with loss of church services and volunteering. Not all could use Zoom for Sunday school. Everything we know about the health and welfare of elders was out the window during the lockdown. Some I know began attending other churches which reopened much sooner.  So losing their Thursday group after the reopening with no explanation was painful. I pray we can keep it going and I'm appreciative that someone managed to work through the problems of reinstatement. Thank you pastors Steve and Joe.

How Biden has failed us and helped Putin

 Ted Cruz says Biden is the best thing that ever happened to Putin.  Agreed.

Biden refuses to protect or encourage our own energy sources which could also save Europe; he allows our country to be invaded; he sat and watched as Putin threatened to pounce as soon as weather permitted; he flooded our economy with inflationary dollars using Covid as an excuse; before he took office he warned oil and gas investors he would shut them down; and he hides in his basement terrified of our homegrown global green terrorists.

Tribute to Dmytro Shtohryn

 https://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/endowment-in-honor-of-dmytro-shtohryn-established-at-u-of-illinois/

https://www.ukrweekly.com/uwwp/dmytro-shtohryn-librarian-initiator-of-ukrainian-studies-at-the-university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign-95/

When we lived in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, I was a Slavic Librarian at the University of Illinois where I worked with a number of Ukrainians and other emigres from the Baltics and Russia.  One I remember well was Dmytro Shtohryn.  I learned a lot about cataloging, librarianship, Ukraine, and WWII from him. He was also kind and generous--a good boss.  With all the recent news about Ukraine and Russia I decided to look him up.  He died in 2019 at age 95.  A life well lived. His obituary mentions Ralph T. Fisher who died in 2015, and he was my boss when I  worked in the Russian Language Area Center which is how I ended up being a Slavic Librarian.

Fossil Fuels, our way of life

As Kamala Harris gets all excited about electric cars before she takes off for Poland in a jet powered by jet fuel from a mixture of hydrocarbons, let's not forget all the products made from fossil fuel, beginning with all the plastics, and including polypropylene from which billions of face masks and PPE were made--in China. From where I sit at my living room desk looking out the window, I can see nothing except my mother's 1930's sewing cabinet, that doesn't contain in part products made from fossil fuels--desk, lamp, clock, computer, i-pad, printer, mouse pad, cords, notebooks, BIC plastic pencils, window blinds, frames on the paintings. Fossil fuels about as organic and natural as you can get. Plant material decayed and buried by pressure of earth. https://lifepowered.org/the-unsung-hero-of-coronavirus.../

What is a woman these days?

 

Joe lies about inflation

Joe Biden has made us energy dependent AGAIN, so the smoke screen about inflationary gasoline prices because Putin's being a bad boy again is just that. Psaki claimed its about the invasion of Ukraine, after months of telling us inflation was temporary because people were returning to normal purchasing after the pandemic. No Joe, this one's on you. You and your terrorist green squad that wants to ruin our country. There are just as many emissions when we use Venezuelan, Russian, or Iraq black gold or does the religious climate cult think that our fossil fuel like our skin tone alone is tainted?

If Trump were president

• No disastrous exit from Afghanistan leaving billions in military supplies
• No lies about Covid
• No cancelling careers of medical experts who offer alternative therapies
• No soaring gasoline prices

If Trump were still president

• We'd have even bigger lies from the media who are all covering for Joe

When women protested against President Trump

I wrote this on March 8, 2017 about women protesting President Trump. Some Women's History.

"Some women will be marching today against President Trump.

 
We know it isn't for the right to vote, because many have that and don't vote;

 
we know it isn't for higher education because they outnumber men in college;

 
we know it isn't for protection of Title IX because they believe biological sex doesn't matter and anyone can be a woman even a 6' 300 lb. male wrestler;

 
we know it isn't for higher salaries because most work for the government in some capacity either as teachers (average hourly wage about $60 according to BLS) or mid-level bureaucrats in local or state or federal government and they are paid more than in the private sector;

 
we know it isn't for freedom of religion or the right to own a gun because they want people to keep religion private and inside churches and want the 2nd amendment to go away;

 
we know it isn't for life from womb to tomb because they are pro-abortion and for euthanasia;

we know it isn't to stop hunger because only 25% of Americans are "normal" BMI;

we know it isn't to crash the glass ceiling because women are free to make choices for career track;

we know it isn't to stop international slave trade in women for sex because they want to do battle against 18th century slave trade.

 
So that only leaves the obvious since for the last 8 years they just went to work and nothing is different today."

Recent uses of the word predecessor

Recent examples of the word "predecessor" on the Web

That’s a similar result to one achieved by Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, in an October 2020 poll by the Pew Research Center, 47%-53%. — Sofi Sinozich, ABC News, 25 Feb. 2022

Portman said Trump agreed to provide lethal aid to Ukraine, that his predecessor, Barack Obama, would not give.
— Sabrina Eaton, Cleveland, 24 Feb. 2022

During a small portion of the Oval Office meeting [with the Finnish president Niinisto] open to reporters, Biden said his predecessor Barack Obama believed the world would be fine if they left matters up to Nordic countries. Niinisto replied we don't usually start wars. [I saw this clip and Biden was so weak and fumbling that his staff immediately rushed him out of the room.] March 4, Reuters, video

Where is Merrick Garland when churches are attacked?

 Sen. John Kennedy says the Justice Dept. has not responded to his complaint in 2020 about attacks on churches. More than 80 attacks have occurred since his first letter urging the Justice Department to step in. Is Merrick Garland too busy ferreting out terrorist parents to pay attention to real anti-Christian crimes?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/2/sen-john-kennedy-urges-merrick-garland-crack-down-/

Francis Fukuyama on Ukraine and the U.S. problems

I don't know if Francis Fukuyama is a liberal or a conservative, but he is an anti-Trumper and an academic who will not give Trump his due. From a Bari Weiss round table podcast with Niall Ferguson, Walter Russell Mead ,and Francis Fukuyama on Ukraine: he was alarmed by Trump supporters who believe he won in 2020, but apparently not alarmed by the chaos of BLM and Antifa taking over cities controlled by Quisling Democrats in 2020. So he thinks our divided nation is a weakness exploited by Putin (and I'd agree). Here he barely condemns Biden's weakness on protecting Ukraine, yet blames Trump for saying Putin was tough, smart opponent.

"FF: I think that many American presidents have a role in bringing us to where we were. I think that we should really begin with the Bucharest summit in 2008 [he leaves out Clinton's role], when Ukraine was first promised a NATO membership [U.S. says no, that's Putin's interpretation]. At the time, I thought that was a big mistake, because we couldn’t actually fulfill that promise. That was under George W. Bush. And I would agree with the criticisms of Obama: I think his refusal to sell weapons to Ukraine and not observing the red line in Syria were bad moves.

But I think that you guys have let Donald Trump off the hook. It’s not just that he was upset about Russiagate [which was all a hoax, but FF apparently believed the Democrats and doesn't know Hillary was behind it]. He has been issuing statements supporting Vladimir Putin from well before he was elected president [he says complimentary things about all international opponents]. Even after the invasion, he talked about Putin being a genius and very savvy. He gave a speech just a few days ago at CPAC where he attacked who as a global tyrant? Justin Trudeau—not a single word about Vladimir Putin. [Yes, we were all alarmed at what was happening in the country closest to the U.S. and Biden said nothing.] He and his followers on the right have a real affinity for strongman leadership [as opposed to the leftist 2-faced Democrats?]. That’s really what is at stake. When you go to Helsinki and you say, “I believe Vladimir Putin more than my own intelligence community,” that’s giving aid and comfort [no, it's the truth--his own intelligence community was part of the deep state]. That’s close to being treasonous, in my view [perhaps FF's favorite theories have been blown up too?].

There is good reason for Putin to think that America is weak under Joe Biden—partly because Trump hasn’t gone away after January 6, and a significant part of the Republican Party believes this lie that the election was stolen. [And Hillary still believes she was elected in 2016.] The country is seriously divided because of the failure of the Republicans to concede the peaceful transfer of power [it was divided long before that--remember when Bush was being called Hitler?]. And so if you’re Putin, you’re thinking that you can rely on your Republican friends to soften any blow. [That's ridiculous, and another lie of the left wing media who can't accept what a joke the Biden-Harris team is.]

Finally, on Biden, yes, I think that he did not do certain things [like helping Putin finance this war by not shutting off his oil]. I was very disappointed when he pulled back on trying to cancel Nord Stream 2. Really, four presidents [don't forget Clinton]  have contributed to this image of American weakness and have made mistakes on policy. But where we are right now, I think, is pretty good given, you know, given that legacy.

Dyscalculia in Adults--difficulty with math

https://www.additudemag.com/dyscalculia-in-adults-symptoms-signs-and-statistics/

• Frequently late, occasionally missing important events altogether
• Finds it difficult to remember names
• Often drives too fast or too slow, or vastly misjudges how long it will take to drive somewhere
• Needs to write down a phone number immediately to remember it
• Gets lost easily; misplaces objects around the house frequently
• Struggles to keep score in games; often loses track of whose turn it is
• Slow to tell time on an analog clock
• Poor memory for anything number-related, like dates or facts

A friend said that sounds like the signs of Alzheimer's Disease and I said, well if it is, I've had AD since I was 5 years old, including math anxiety.

Poland is taking in Ukrainian refugees

When Trump went to Poland in 2017 and praised that country for its culture, Christian history and outstanding citizens, Vox and other leftist media said Trump sounded like an alt-right manifesto. When Biden praises Ukraine for its brave people defending their culture, the leftists swoon. They lied about Trump every chance they had and praise Biden for sitting on his butt buying oil from Russia while Putin surrounded Ukraine.

The war against Ukraine by Melissa Mackenzie

Remember, blog friends and Democrat lurkers and scrollers, we can't trust Biden and our media. We've been lied to for years, long before Trump called them out making him the #1 enemy of the deep state. And never forget the Democrat lies for 5 years of Russia, Russia, Russia! when it was their own party and candidate who did the set-up. Remember it was the Democrats who didn't want Trump to even talk to the president of Ukraine. We need some thoughtful, sane people in Washington, and so far, none have dropped from the sky to help us sort this through. Democrats are thirsting for a world war just after fleeing our responsibilities in Afghanistan and leaving behind millions in military equipment that could be sold to Russia. They are using the Ukrainian people to get to war. A good war should cover for all the fumbling, bumbling of Biden and steal even more of our freedoms. Read this column by Melissa.

"A time of universal deceit... by Melissa Mackenzie

The first casualty of war is the truth -- Hiram Johnson, U.S. Republican Senator from California in 1918

Have we learned nothing? On the heels of multiple deception campaigns by the United States government and media (but I repeat myself), comes a potential world war that is being cheered on by some very, very unserious people.

Caution is being thrown to the wind. This is exceedingly dangerous when nuclear fallout might be the next thing floating through the breeze.

Think that's impossible? Well, a lot of smart people told us that what is currently happening in Ukraine is impossible. Ukraine is winning the propaganda war. How nice. Meanwhile Russia is on its way to Kiev. We are only a couple days into this "military action."

At this writing, Ukraine applied to become a member of NATO. What this is, is an indirect request to have the United States join the war against Russia.

How about a no-fly zone? Again, is anyone considering the full ramifications of doing something like this? What happens when American pilots shoot down a Russian plane?

The United States needs to start production of our own drilling and OUR OWN PIPELINE. But Biden and his minions are not doing that. In fact, the U.S. government just halted drilling. John Kerry was flapping his gums about the climate -- as if that's the main concern and not DEAD Ukrainians.

There are stories coming out that Putin is "crazy." Boloney. Putin is many things: calculating, brutal, murderous, etc. but he is not crazy.

There are rumors floating from guys like Marco Rubio that Putin is sick. Maybe. And if he is, maybe with cancer or something, that makes him more dangerous because he feels like he has some business to finish before he dies.

DON'T FORGET CHINA. In the last few days, she's been harassing Taiwan again. Has anyone considered what a China-Russia alliance looks like for the world?

Anyone?

So please, friends, hold onto your healthy skepticism. Watch warily and realize that much of what you're seeing in the media, on social media, is DESIGNED to make you feel a certain way, adopt a certain position, and to inflame your senses.

What is needed is cool, calculating, heat-lowering rhetoric and actions.

War is evil and we should not enter one, especially a worldwide one, lightly.

Meanwhile, watch your six [watch your back]. While you're looking at the propaganda, what are you not seeing? Today, the House and Senate are trying to pass a bill so that women can abort a baby throughout pregnancy and negating any state and local laws on it. There are lots of news stories afoot that aren't being covered, but are life-changingly important.

Discernment is what is needed now. Wisdom to see not just what we're told to look at but the whole picture.

Russia has a convoy rolling toward Kiev. Is this the "minor incursion" Biden envisioned? Do you trust that Biden knows what's going on?

Remember the lies of the last few years. The same people who promised that masks worked, there was Russian collusion (turns out that it was Hillary), 14 days to stop the spread, etc. are now pushing for World War III in the media.

These people are not to be trusted.

-- Melissa

Oil from Russia, or how Biden put us in danger

 

What in the world is GERD?

A relative has been ill with GERD since a few days after the Super Bowl, so about 2 weeks. She's really feeling yucky and hasn't been able to get in to see her doctor. Ouch. So I looked it up. Don't you love it when you're told to talk to your doctor?

"Nearly everyone has heartburn now and then. But heartburn is also the most common symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), so talk to your doctor if:

• Your heartburn happens 2 or more times a week
• Your heartburn gets worse
• Your heartburn happens at night and wakes you from sleep
• You’ve had heartburn now and then, but for several years
• You have difficulty or pain when swallowing
• Your discomfort or pain interferes with your daily activities"

We've Facetimed a little and she seems beyond those symptoms. Here's some additional signs. She definitely sounds like she has laryngitis.

"Chronic heartburn is the most common symptom of GERD. Acid regurgitation (refluxed material into the mouth) is another common symptom. But numerous less common symptoms other than heartburn may be associated with GERD. These may include: Overview: Symptoms of GERD - About GERD

• Belching
• Difficulty or pain when swallowing
• Waterbrash (sudden excess of saliva)
• Dysphagia (the sensation of food sticking in the esophagus)
• Chronic sore throat
• Laryngitis
• Inflammation of the gums
• Erosion of the enamel of the teeth
• Chronic irritation in the throat
• Hoarseness in the morning
• A sour taste
• Bad breath"

Living Water John 7:37-52

UALC Lytham Road Sermon and questions. February 27 | UALC Sermons | Lytham Road Campus - YouTube

1. Reread John 7:37-52. Jesus caused division between people who believed him and people who rejected him. Why do you think he caused such strong reactions?

2. In the sermon this week we learned about traits we might share with the Pharisees who said “no” to Jesus. One trait was the temptation to care too much about outside appearances. How or where in your life do you experience this temptation? How does our culture encourage this obsession with image-management? Why does this draw us away from Jesus?

3. The Pharisees also got tripped up by “categorizing” people. (He would know “what kind of woman she is (Luke 7:39).” Or He eats with “sinners.”) Is this a struggle for you too? What’s the understandable reason we do this? What’s the danger?

Other sources

What does John 7:38 mean? 

"During the Feast of Booths, Israel remembered God's miraculous intervention during their time in the wilderness. As part of the celebration, priests would carry water to the altar in the temple, recalling God's provision of water from the rock (Exodus 17:1–7). On the last, most important day of the festival, priests would circle the altar seven times with a container of water. This is the moment Jesus makes this claim, which began in verse 37. These words continue a theme Jesus has used before, including with the Samaritan woman in Sychar (John 4:10–13), and the people near the shores of Galilee (John 6:35).

Jesus' reference to the Scriptures here probably includes more than one single verse or passage. Proverbs 18:4 and Zechariah 14:8 involve similar themes. Given the priestly ritual's connection to the story of water from the rock, Jesus might have had Psalm 78:12–16 in mind. Likewise, the idea of life, or God's truth, being a stream or spring is common in the Bible. The imagery implies something living, pure, and life-giving (Revelation 22:1–2).

As used by Jesus, this internal spring, or stream, is indicative of the Holy Spirit, which comes to live inside all who come to faith in Christ. This indwelling, however, will not begin until after Jesus' ascension (Acts 2:1–4), a point made in the next verse.  https://www.bibleref.com/John/7/John-7-38.html

Got Questions? Rivers of Living Water

Earlier, Jesus had told Nicodemus that one had to be born of water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). Most likely, Jesus’ reference to water here was simply to physical birth, in contrast to spiritual birth (John 3:6). In John 4:10 Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He could give her “living water.” This was in contrast to the physical water that the Samaritan woman came to the well to retrieve. That physical water would run out, and she would need to continually return to get more. But Jesus offered the woman water that would never run out—water that would become within the believer “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Jesus later would return to this theme when He stood up in public and said, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). In this way, He was again offering Himself as the water of life and telling all they could come to Him and receive that never-ending life.  https://www.gotquestions.org/rivers-of-living-water.html

Read the hard parts, Living Water

John 7:38 is not an exact quote from the O.T.  Yet it clearly refers to the Holy Spirit, a reference to the Trinity a word not used in Scripture. Author examines Old Testament prophecy. https://readthehardparts.com/rivers-of-living-water-john-7/

This California author finds a social justice message in Galilee reference

This is where my thoughts go when I read John 7. In John 7, Jesus finds himself with a group of people who do not believe in him, who whisper behind his back, who plot to kill him all because they believe that the Messiah could not possibly come from Galilee. The Messiah could not have come from Galilee some say because Galilee was not Jerusalem or Bethlehem. Galilee may have been a place of social dissent and political protest. Some believe the people there engaged in social banditry, taking from the rich to give to the poor. It isn’t clear, but it is suspected that some of this dissent and protest took violent forms. So Jesus could not be the Messiah because the Messiah could not engage in economic, political and social protest.

In the midst of this unrest, Jesus speaks and says, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” Jesus is saying don’t look at me and where I’m from and draw the wrong conclusion. Don’t assume that I am not the Messiah, do not assume that I don’t have value, don’t assume that I can’t change the world. Jesus continues to challenge us this way today. When we meet someone who doesn’t look like we do, or believe like we do or worship like we do, or that does not have what we have, I hope that we will hear Jesus shouting in our ear, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” My creation has value, my creation can change the world, and I often use those from the least likely places to teach humanity how to love.

When Jesus later says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit,” I suspect that he meant those who are thirsty to know how to judge correctly, will have their thirst quenched.

Let’s pray that rivers of living water flow from us, that we judge all of our neighbors correctly. Let’s listen for Jesus’ voice in unexpected places, for rivers of living water to come from our most unfamiliar neighbors.

Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly . . . Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit. (John 7:24 and 37b-39a) 

 https://magnifications.org/magnifications/2015/06/05/can-the-messiah-come-from-galilee

The Pharisees react to Jesus' words

The affairs of the temple were carried out by hundreds of Levites, all with specific jobs. There were various classes of priests who administered not only the sacrifices, but others who were gatekeepers, janitors, singers, musicians, and guards who were subordinate to the ruling officers. 7 The guards or officers, when questioned by the chief priests and Pharisees for not doing their job, replied "Never man spake like this man." It was not a small thing to refuse to carry out the orders of the temple rulers. Jesus' preaching was so powerful that these men sent to apprehend him were powerless to do so, being overcome with might of his words and person. The Pharisees were extremely angry and belittled these officers by suggesting they had been deceived by Jesus as were many of the people. The point is clear, these temple officers should have followed their leaders and known better than let Jesus' words sway them. They belittled them by supposing that no Pharisees had believed in him. However, that was not true. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea had believed, but not openly.

They implied that the reason many of the people were believing in Jesus was because they were the ordinary people who did not know the law as the rulers and thus were cursed by their ignorance. Two things are apparent in their statement. First, the Pharisees generally had contempt for the common man who they considered the lower class who did not have the wealth, education and position they enjoyed. As the superior elite of Israel they saw masses as inferior, execrable and worthy of damnation. Second, the Pharisee, chief priests and rulers believed that Jesus was threatening their lucrative position as the rulers in the temple and controller of the temple monies. Jesus warned the people of them in Matthew 12:38-40. Jesus said they loved wearing long distinctive clothing and being addressed with titles. They loved the seats of honor in the synagogues and feast rooms, and worst of all these vile rulers swallowed up the property of helpless widows while they prayed long prayers for them. If you turn on your TV to the religious channels you will see their descendants are around even today. If the people believed Jesus and followed Him, their position and income would greatly suffer. Note that these were the people who opposed Jesus Christ, accusing Him to the people.

 
The Pharisees had just condemned the people because they "did not know the law," but they were conveniently ignoring a principle rule of their law by condemning Jesus before letting Him defend Himself. Jesus had not appeared before the Sanhedrin and thus their condemnation of Jesus was based on second hand information. Also, many thought Jesus was a prophet and some referred to Him as "the Prophet" the one prophesied to come as mentioned earlier. Yet, no one had attempted to apply the rule of law stated in Deuteronomy 18:9-22 which God said was to be used to test if man was truly a prophet of God. These rulers were so incensed by Jesus they were letting their emotions rule their actions. Further, there was widespread belief that Jesus might be the Christ based on His miracles, claims of coming from God the Father, forgiving sin, and statement of His deity. This posed a direct threat to their biblical knowledge and leadership. Throughout the events that followed, the temple officials never followed the law and through illegal trials they condemned Jesus.

They were greatly surprised when Nicodemus, who was the Pharisee who had spoken to Jesus personally, spoke up and defended Him. (John 3) He reminded them of the law they supposedly knew and piously followed. The law of Moses provided that a man must be heard before he could be judged. Therefore their prejudicial judgment of Jesus was clearly illegal.

The Jewish rulers had an open contempt for their fellow countrymen in Galilee. The Galileans were liberal and their society was heavily influenced by Greek culture. The Judean Jews saw themselves as superior to the Galilean Jews because they lived in the city of David, the capital of Israel. Those who were condemning Jesus quickly replied with an insulting question which suggested that Nicodemus was a Galilean, even though they knew he was not. Scornfully they challenged the validity of Jesus' claims by exclaiming... "Search, look for no prophet ariseth from Galilee."

Gilead, our March book club selection

To avoid watching the news and the mess Biden has made of our lives, I've been reading the March book club selection while on the exercycle. Gilead by Marilynne Robison promises to be an interesting read, and I believe it's the first of a series. So I've looked for a few reviews. Her first novel was "Housekeeping" but it was about 24 years before she wrote her second.

But Gilead, a book about fathers and sons, where Housekeeping was a book about girls and women, and fragmentary where one of Housekeeping's achievements was its fluid narrative completeness, takes an opposing narratorial position with a protagonist whose insider credentials could not be stronger. In Genesis, in the story of Joseph, Gilead is the casually mentioned place left behind by the merchants who bought Joseph from his brothers. Robinson's Gilead is a small American town in Iowa in 1956. John Ames, a preacher in his mid-70s whose heart is failing him, is writing letters to his only child, now aged six, so that when the boy reaches an adulthood his father won't see, he'll at least have this posthumous one-sided conversation: "While you read this, I am imperishable, somehow more alive than I have ever been."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/16/fiction.alismith

"GILEAD is better than a good book. It is a slim, spare, yet exquisite and wonderfully realized story that will long stand as one of fiction’s finest reflections on the sacramental dimensions of life, especially the Christian life lived in the routines and wonderments of prayer. It is, like a good sermon, a passionate meditation.

The book is slender only in the number of its pages — a mere 247. Otherwise, it is a fuller, richer and more deeply textured novel than most contemporary fiction twice its size. Robinson makes use of a form — the epistolary novel — that is classic but one of the most difficult to pull off well. It can often seem forced and cumbersome and — to the contemporary reader more attuned to e-mail and instant-messaging rather than the carefully considered craft of composing a letter — irritating in its deliberate pace.

Robinson’s epistle takes the form of a letter from 76-year-old John Ames, a fourth-generation Congregationalist minister, to his just-about-seven-year-old son. Ames is suffering from heart disease, and his letter, written in 1956, is a summing up of the past sprinkled with anecdotes and advice and sketches of the present, especially of his son and his wife and his best friend, also a minister."https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2005/03/18/march-18-2005-book-review-gilead-by-marilynne-robinson/4232/

Putin invades Ukraine

Let's pray that NATO is up to the job, because Biden sure isn't. He left billions in matériel behind for ISIS, he's crippled our energy supply by shutting down Keystone, he's created the worst inflation in 40 years, he's weakened our military with wokeism, and did nothing but chatter and pout as Putin used Hitler's game plan of 1939. Those of you who voted for this because you didn't like Trump's strength, resolve and patriotism have helped create this disaster.