Misinformation about Trump is everywhere, subtle or blatant. All information has a bias.

 The first title on our book club list for 2022-2023 is "The Code Breaker; Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race," by Walter Isaacson, 2021.   https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Code-Breaker/Walter-Isaacson/9781982115852   Doudna is the co-founder of CRISPR — a technology that can edit or alter DNA and genetic traits.   It's our September selection  because it is a fat book about a complex topic and we'll need more time to read it. The author is a history professor, former CEO of the Aspen Institute (large Covid government grant; recently launched a disinformation program to fight "malicious actors"), advisory partner of Perella Weinberg Partners, chair of CNN and editor of Time.  In other words, a left of center academic. On page 1 of the introduction Issacson sets the stage as March 13, 2020 by saying the "government was fumbling its response to COVID." By this I assume he means the FDA, HHS, CDC and NIH with competing interests and miles of red tape.  Yet it was the  day after Jennifer Doudna had driven her son Andy a high school senior to Fresno on March 12 for a robot-building competition. This woman who was a gene-editing technology superstar at Berkeley was uneasy, given what we already knew about Covid, but not so alarmed she kept him home. Probably the smartest scientist alive.  But the government was fumbling? Is that true, or distain for President Trump's efforts--the man who closed travel with China on January 30, several weeks before the first death was recorded in Washington state (that date has been changed several times to other states). Let's review while we remember the scorn and insults from Democrats, even Biden and Harris denigrating the idea of such a vaccine BEFORE they took office and promoted it relentlessly.

"Former President Donald Trump formally announced Operation Warp Speed (OWS) on May 15, 2020. OWS was constituted as a projected $18 billion business-government-military partnership, charged to “produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.” No date was set for fulfilling the 300 million doses target, other than the understanding that it would be “accelerated” relative to conventional standards.

The most innovative feature of OWS was government purchases of large quantities of vaccine types undergoing clinical trials, irrespective of the outcome (such as $2 billion and $483 million in early purchases from Pfizer and Moderna, respectively).

OWS called for clinical trials, manufacturing, and logistics to be conducted on a parallel rather than a sequential basis. The pursuit of multiple vaccine types built redundancy into the program to insure as many approved vaccine types as possible. (Currently, 251 vaccines are in the process of development).

Some ten months later, the results of OWS are as follows:

On Dec. 11, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for emergency use authorization (EUA) a vaccine produced by Pfizer for “the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in individuals 16 years of age and older.” Approval of Moderna’s vaccine followed seven days later. The first Americans were vaccinated on Dec. 15, 2020, only four days after FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine. 

Consistent with OWS’s stated goal, some 50 million initial doses of approved COVID-19 vaccine were available on Jan. 31, 2021." The Hill, March 20, 2021

By anyone's measure of how the government gets around to cutting red tape and shipping money off to universities and corporations, that was beyond warp speed.  I know no one who could have accomplished this, yet Issacson dismisses his importance on the first page.  I'm sure Doudna was absolutely the right person in the right place at the right time, but without the $18 billion and a president who bullied, I doubt there would have been a vaccine in seven months. Universities live for government money. 

The index item, "Trump Administration" gets one reference, p. 411. Bill Clinton got  three. even Joe Biden got a mention. President Donald Trump, a huge cheerleader for the vaccine AND TREATMENTS, didn't get a single line in the index (and I assume in the book).  Now two years out and a year and a half of Joe Biden, we still have Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccine, don't we?

Gene editing raises huge ethical questions.  I hope Issacson is the one to present the problem without relying too much on government control and "science." As we've learned the last 2 years, science is putty in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians. It's a game of winners and losers.   As of page one, I'm not impressed, but it's a very deep and detailed story. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

'Tain't funny McGee

 Afghanistan, Inflation. New war. Invasion at our Border. Angry parents. Dementia. Disinformation Department. Street riots.  Rising crime rates. Defund police. Laptop from Hell. Growing evidence of voter fraud in 2020.

There's always Google and inclusive language rules (humor?)

"But now, in its most Luciferian lucifugalism yet, Google has launched an “inclusive language” function that will berate users who search for words that a few Ivy League inbreds consider “racist” or “gender oppressive.”

For example, if you search for “policeman,” Google will rebuke you for not searching for “police officer.” Ditto “housewife,” which should be “stay-at-home spouse,” and “blacklist” instead of “deny list.”

[Typing] “Dentists in my neighborhood." Based on these new “improvements,” it’s very likely that by next year, you’ll be seeing Google searches like this:

Google reply: “Don’t you mean black dentists in your neighborhood?”

[Typing again] “Dentists in Los Angeles.”

Google: “Why are you evading the question? Don’t you trust black dentists?”

“I have no problem with black dentists, but I want to see all dentists in my area.”

Google: “Just not the black ones.”

“I never said that! I’m looking for any dentist; I have a toothache.”

Google: “What happened? Did a black man sock you in the jaw for being racist? Serves you right, KKKlancy.”

“Okay, okay. Black dentists in my neighborhood.”

Google: “Typical! Another white man looking to gentrify a black business. Stay in your lane, cross-burner.”

“Screw this; I’m going back to the Yellow Pages.”

Google: “Autocorrected to Chinese Pages.”

From this article: https://www.takimag.com/article/the-week-that-perished-188/

Microaggressions and Me at Ohio State University

 Hmmm.  What do you suppose this workshop, Microaggressions and Me, is really about, and who will be held accountable? I saw this wokeness notice at the Ohio State onCampus for May 5, 2022.  I don't know if it is a trial program waiting for compulsory status or if it's permanent and for credit. Something to keep the huge, multi-million dollar staff in the Diversity office busy?  But wait, first you must have Microaggressions 101 and 102! 

Diversity never means ideological or political diversity; it's never about the persecution or discrimination of Christians. As values to live by diversity, inclusion and equity aren't useful. Look at the biggest news stories of the moment--the Russian and Ukrainian War.  Same race, color, religion, history, fashion, architecture, music, athletic events etc.  Yet there is a war.  How many of the reasons were microaggressions?  Or the abortion conflict--the leaking of a draft of a SCOTUS decision.  Is the death of millions a microaggression or a holocaust? Is putting aside a horrid decision of the 1970s really a microaggression?  Yet it's all the talk today.

 How long before this is compulsory for all students and staff--although there is already something like that. They've done that, plus had that mobile "Check your Blind Spots" reeducation unit.  The College of Food Agriculture and other departments already have their own D. I. E. units. It's permanent employment for the Black Studies and Women Studies of the old days and more recently, Queer Studies graduates to get jobs. Could be victimology 101.   https://cfaesdei.osu.edu/ .  I was blogging about the various workshops and reeducation camps offered by OSU in 2010. So is it any wonder that the kids went out from academe to populate the corporations to create "wokeness." We librarians had workshops in the 90s on how to give better service to foreign born, non-English speaking students, and students/staff with disabilities, but that was nothing compared to this brainscrubbing of the diversity czars.   https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/11/diversity-unity-and-multiculturalism.html  Ohio State also has a DISCO program with 8 departments "to foster understanding about the possibilities and complications of social differences related to gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, dis/ability, etc., and their intersections."

"Microaggressions and Me Workshop 

 Many of us wonder how we can intervene when we experience or witness a microaggression. But what do we do when someone tells us we are the person enacting a microaggression? How do we hold ourselves and each other accountable empathetically and consistently? This workshop offers participants an opportunity to reflect on the ways all of us can perpetuate microaggressions and explore how to move forward once we’ve been made aware of the microaggressions we perpetuate. Presented by ODI's Strategic Diversity Planning, Training and Assessment unit (to be attended after Microaggressions 101 and 102)."

Biden actually can move quickly when it matters to him

 

Glenn Beck encourages reading; his latest book list

Glenn Beck is a radio personality, an author, and a huge fan of books--he advocates for book reading, for research, and for being informed. He leans right, so that's the kind of books and authors he recommends. Fifteen years ago he inspired book clubs encouraging patriotism, particularly about historical figures. https://www.glennbeck.com/topic/books/glenn-becks-bookshelf-past-lessons-current-problems-poisonous-future? (Read complete description and summary)

https://www.thethinkingconservative.com/the-fourth-turning-an-american-prophecy-what-the-cycles-of-history-tell-us-about-americas-next-rendezvous-with-destiny/ (1997)
The authors look back five hundred years and uncover a distinct pattern: Modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life, each composed of four eras—or "turnings"—that last about twenty years and that always arrive in the same order. In The Fourth Turning, the authors illustrate these cycles using a brilliant analysis of the post-World War II period.

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020)
takes readers out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill’s eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

The Final Fight for Freedom: How to Save Our Country from Chaos and War (2022)
Not since the Civil War has our nation been so divided, bringing us to the edge of national suicide. And our enemies—China being chief among them—see our weakness. If we falter, they will act.

Race Marxism: The Truth About Critical Race Theory and Praxis (2022)
Lindsay explains what Critical Race Theory is, what it believes, where it comes from, how it operates, and what we can do about it now that we know what we're dealing with. It exposes Critical Race Theory for what it is by ranging widely across its own literature and a survey of some of the darkest philosophical currents of the last three hundred years in Western thought.

Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (2021)
In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new religion, from the original sin of “white privilege” and the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics, to the evangelical fervor of the “woke mob.”

The Extinction Trials (2021)
With time running out to save the last human survivors, Owen, Maya, and the other participants venture out into the changed world. What they find there is beyond anything they imagined. And the key to their future—and humanity's survival—is something no one expected.

San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities (2021)
San Fransicko reveals that the underlying problem isn’t a lack of housing or money for social programs. The real problem is an ideology that designates some people, by identity or experience, as victims entitled to destructive behaviors. The result is an undermining of the values that make cities, and civilization itself, possible.

Eight Days in May: The Final Collapse of the Third Reich (2021)
A taut, propulsive narrative, Eight Days in May takes us inside the phantomlike regime of Hitler’s chosen successor, Admiral Karl Dönitz, revealing how the desperate attempt to impose order utterly failed, as frontline soldiers deserted and Nazi Party fanatics called on German civilians to martyr themselves in a last stand against encroaching Allied forces.

Why We Fought: Inspiring Stories of Resisting Hitler and Defending Freedom (2021)
These dramatic and inspiring personal stories shed light on some of the darkest days of World War II and one of the most perilous times in human history.

Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America (2021)
With the insight of a native, Koffler explains how Russians, formed by centuries of war-torn history, understand the world and their national destiny. The collapse of the Soviet empire, which Putin experienced as a vulnerable KGB agent in East Germany, was a catastrophic humiliation. Seeing himself as the modern “Czar Vladimir” of a unique Slavic nation at war with the West, he is determined to restore Russia to its place as a great power.

Don't look at my shoes!

 I was surprised to read in this article that you can judge people (or so it is thought) even by photos of their shoes.  I doubt the author was thinking about the elderly.  We definitely go for comfort, balance, and not irritating our corns.  However, these eight small things that will reveal your personality are interesting.  I disagree with the eye contact statement; that seems to be cultural.  It's considered rude in some cultures to make too much eye contact.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/eight-small-things-people-use-judge-you-dr-travis-bradberry

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott, c. 2017

Our Monday Book Club's selection for May was The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott. We had a lively discussion with some points mentioned, but not developed. This is a copy of my letter to the group to address some of the issues.

Before I returned the book to the library I wanted to check 2 things—Sally’s reason for leaving Chicago as soon as she got there, and Sister Jeanne’s statement, “I gave up my place in heaven a long time ago.” I’d also like to address the concern about theology of the characters/the writer.

The first is summarized on pages 153-159. Sally is thinking at night on the train about her father’s job on the BRT, dozes, sees the little boy, and muses on “She was going to give her life to others, in the name of the crucified Christ and His loving mother. She was going to join the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor, Congregation of Mary Before the Cross, Stabat Mater, which Sister Jeanne thought the most beautiful name of all the orders. Because it reminded us all, Sister Jeanne said, that love stood before brutality in that moment on Golgotha and love was triumphant. Love applied to suffering, as Sister Illuminata put it: like a clean cloth to a seeping wound.” (Then images of the convent laundry where she’d spent her most formative years with the nuns). Then she physically attacks the disgusting woman who tormented her. She sees she cannot live up to her images of the nuns who helped raise her.

The second is the death of Mrs. Costello. “Her troubles were endless and her care was endless.” Both Sister Jeanne and Sally love Annie who will not be moved from her sinful behavior. Sally’s intentions are preceded by a few signs, like leaving the food uncovered and leaving the apartment before taking care of Mrs. Costello’s fever (p. 208) and her easy lies (p. 211). The writer repeats the “butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth” line she used with the disgusting woman on the train. It sounds minor but it shows Sally slipping away from her values. We already know the details of the poorly prepared applesauce, and how alum can kill, although we don’t know why we have those details. If Mrs. Costello died, then Annie would be free to marry Mr. Costello, Sally could have her mother back, and the sinning would stop. “Her plan was to exchange her own immortal soul for her mother’s mortal happiness.” (p. 225) Four times on one page this plan is called ridiculous. However, if you read p. 224-226 carefully, neither Sally or Sister Jeanne actually carry out their plan—or at least we don’t see it and the narrator (Sally’s children) doesn’t either--one with poisoned tea and one with applesauce. Sister Jeanne stops Sally with her arm movement, Mrs. Costello is coughing, gulping and choking. We never see/read (in the writer’s words) Sister Jeanne give Mrs. Costello the applesauce, she has the cup and spoon in her hand, and Sally is looking at the photograph of the wedding photo. When she turns and sees what is happening the spoon is still poised in sister’s hand. Sister Lucy arrives and the 2 nuns begin to slap and pounded on her back in a last attempt to restore her breathing.

McDermott’s skill as a writer and plot developer is incredible. It’s very spare; every detail matters. Her use of words, even reusing phrases and simple thoughts over, seems appropriate for the simple life of the characters—not rich, not educated, not clever. Short, crisp phrases and sentences, words that are not multisyllabic. We never could pin down the era or dates, but did you notice WWI, The Great Depression and WWII do not appear as characters or even a back drop. The Civil War figures in slightly to show another kind of substitutionary behavior. Their world is very self-contained and small.

As far as theology goes, I do see a serious lack on Sister Jeanne’s part, in that Confession (called the Sacrament of Reconciliation) could have absolved her of her guilt. Same with Sally. I think they knew that, but chose not to seek forgiveness. With Sister Jeanne it might have been her less than generous opinion of the parish priests. Even if they didn’t actually do the deed (and that’s up to interpretation) they had planned it, and in the heart according to Jesus it’s a done deal. Jesus gave that authority to his disciples who pass it down to priests today. It’s even that way in Lutheran and Anglican churches. Lutherans (I be one) say it every Sunday and the pastor says, “As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (sign of the cross).”

As far as the differences between Protestants and Catholics, it is more common for Protestants even if not openly Calvinists, to believe in “imputed righteousness” and Catholics to believe in “infused righteousness.” Catholic theology would take very seriously the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount and Matthew 25, that one meets Jesus in person while offering aid and comfort to the hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, etc. The nuns in McDermott’s novel live out this theology, they meet joyfully Christ in the suffering of the people they help. Whether or not McDermott is only nominally Catholic she accurately portrays Catholicism.

Thank you, Margie, for bringing this book to us. I really enjoyed it.

https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/alice-mcdermott-talks-about-latest-novel-the-ninth-hour/ 

https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2017/11/15/review

I'm so old I remember when Joe Biden was a pro-life Catholic!

 https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251129/roe-wade-biden-when-life-begins-abortion

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Catholic Church’s pro-life position has remained consistent from the beginning. St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century drew from Aristotle, including his theory that the rational human soul is not present at the start of pregnancy, the USCCB says. But, at the same time, the saint rejected abortion as gravely wrong at every stage, calling it a sin “against nature” to reject God's gift of life. “Quickening” refers to the stage when a woman is first able to notice her baby moving in the womb.

Biden also referred in his remarks to the baby in the womb as a "child," a term abortion supporters generally avoid.

“The idea that we’re going to make the judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the Supreme Court, I think, goes way overboard,” Biden said."

Joe slipped up and told the truth--that is a child he wants to kill.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54003808  Compares Trump and Biden positions during 2020 campaign. Worded to favor Biden, however, show the huge gulf between the two parties and candidates.

Childhood memories of traveling to Chicago, guest blogger

Dave Graf recalls: "When I was a kid (starting as early as age 5), I loved to take Route 64 to Chicago to visit my grandparents. They moved there when WWII was over. It was more fun than going into the Windy City by the Tollway. Names such as Sycamore, St. Charles, Itasca, Bensonville--(we turned off of 64 and took Rte 83 to Irving Pk)--were MAGIC names. Even Kings, IL was "magic" because as far as I was concerned, Kings was where we broke loose from our local area. The closer to Chicago we got, the more excited I was. I told you the story about when I went to Arlington Park with the Jewetts. We ate at the Hotel Baker, in St. Charles on that day (*)when Steve and I stared from outside the window, looking at, and smacking our lips at the people eating inside. Unfortunately, Norm caught us--but that's another story. Mom and Dad stopped at the Log Cabin, located right next to the Fox River. If I remember right, the Latrines were in the basement and there was a glassy area where you could see how the river looked at that level. I also remember a Wurlitzer Juke Box they had in the dining area at one time. I was fascinated by the way the colors in the tubes changed. Now Jim and I sat in the back seat on these excursions--and we would push, punch and pester each other much of the way in. The reason we behaved at the Log Cabin was that if we got TOO wild back there, Dad would pull over, off the road before we got to the Cabin. He would say something like this, Do you boys see those chimneys with smoke coming out of them? Those buildings are the Reformatory for Boys--and unless you promise to settle down, we will turn right now--and head over there!" The first few times we were afraid he would do just that, but later on we wised up, grinned at each other when the folks weren't looking--and were well behaved because it was nearing chow time. Somebody told me a couple years ago that their parents did the same thing!

We turned onto 83 at Montana Charlie's Steakhouse. I would have loved to have eaten a huge steak there later in life, but I suppose it's gone. We drove Past Kiddieland, in Addison, IL, a Seminary called "Our Lady of the Snows" I believe (that name rings a bell). Then right from (I think Harlem) onto Irving....and there it was! It used to scare the pants off of me--"Dunning Mental Health Facility!" Every so often, some of the patients would be right up to the iron fence that surrounded the place! The Reform School was nothing, next to Dunning!

On to Irving Park. The bus route ended at Narragansett, and returned to the run to the East, near the Lake. When I was about 12, I'd get onto that (electric) Irving Park bus and go from one end to the other. I memorized every stop and where it was: Calif (2000), Western (24), Cicero (48)., Austin 6000) etc. Past Nicky Chevrolet "With the Backward K". We'd go to Drake Avenue, turn North and head to my Nana's home at 4332 N. Drake, just South of Montrose (4000 W). And I was in Heaven. We would all sit on the 2nd floor on the porch, in the back by the alley, in the night and listen to the steam trains rattle by on an overpass about 6 blocks away. The RR was the "Soo Line". Nana's mother and father lived in the same "bungalow". We did this for years. I would sit up on that same porch with my Great Grandfather and listen to the Cub games. I learned OTHER "Magic Names"--Sauer, Rush, Baumholtz, Minner, Caveretta, Pafko etc. Magic names, and Magic Times--Trips to the City with the Big Shoulders. Maybe someday, God will return it to a wonderful city to visit--as well as a great place to live in!"

The hoopla about women's health

 

Mask compliance and outcomes

"A new peer-reviewed study entitled: "Correlation Between Mask Compliance and COVID-19 Outcomes in Europe" has demonstrated that use of face masks, even widespread, did not correlate with better outcomes during the COVID epidemic, based on data from 35 European countries with populations of over one million people each, encompassing a total of 602 million people."

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/326734

Think of the people who were terrorized, insulted and cancelled because they spoke out against masks, mandates, and monsters under the bed.

Book Club Schedule 2022-2023

Yesterday we had our final meeting of this season, and a lively discussion of The Ninth Hour by Anne McDermott. We voted on selections for next season. Some excellent suggestions, even those that didn't make the cut--one title was a three-way tie.

Here is the schedule for next season's book club.

Sept. 12, 2022 The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson led by Justine at Bethel

Oct. 3, 2022 A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd led by Cindy at Bethel

Nov. 7, 2022 Ghosts of Gold Mountain by Gordon Chang led by Gail at Peggy's home

Dec. 5, 2022 The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa led by Carolyn A at her home. The Christmas party.

Jan. 9, 2023 The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray led by Marti Bethel

Feb. 6, 2023 Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder led by Linda at Bethel

Mar. 6, 2023 How the Post Office Created America by Winifred Gallagher led by Carolyn A. at Bethel

April 3, 2023 Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey led by Carolyn C at Bethel

May 1, 2023 The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey led by Peggy H. at Bethel. Bring titles to suggest for the next year.

The new government fake news office

The DHS disinformation governance board's executive director, Nina Jankowicz, at least has clear qualifications for the post. She previously had spread false rumors on social media that Donald Trump voters would show up at the polls in 2020 armed, and joined the mob’s chorus that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation.” Perhaps the idea behind her hiring was “it takes one to know one.”

Victor Davis Hanson https://amgreatness.com/2022/05/01/the-new-disinformationists/

Five Years ago our TV died--right on time

 " Tonight (May 2, 2017) the living room TV wouldn't turn on. After consulting with Spectrum and trying various things, it was determined it was dead. It seemed new to us, but when I went back through my blog I found I had written about it on Dec. 18, 2009. ". . . selected the Sony Bravio 32L5000 and bought the 4 year extended warranty, which usually we don't. However, the life expectancy of today's models aren't even close to our old "fat" models--we have 3 TVs of various sizes from the 1980s, and one from the early 90s. The clerk said 6-8 years for this one." I see from another blog it replaced a 1994 model. Right on time. It's 7.5 years old."

Our current living room TV is a Samsung and if my math is correct it is about 5 years old.

Smile by Chris Botkin guest blogger

In 1960, Walt Disney produced a movie starring English newcomer Hayley Mills in the title role as "Pollyanna." Not having been groomed, I was too young (7) for crushes one way or the other, but I liked her and the movie and I remember watching it multiple times. Pollyanna was just a young girl and of course no one listened to her, but she was unfailingly cheerful and optimistic about even the most hopeless things, and by the end of the movie she had brightened the lives of everyone around her to the point it almost presaged the porn definition of "happy ending." The message was clear even to prepubescent seven-year-olds: always look on the bright side, hope for the best, things are not as bad as they seem.

The sixties being what they were, that attitude came to be mocked mercilessly, and "Pollyannaism" became a cognoscenti pejorative for unrealistically positive expectations in all walks of life. "OK, Pollyanna" was the "OK, Boomer" of its day. Being tagged as overtly optimistic was the debate closer, your opinion does not matter, you are not listening to "reason."

Well, call me Pollyanna.

I remember Trump finding Obama's missing magic wand, adding 400% more jobs in his first two years than Obama had added in his last two years. I remember deregulation, low inflation, high employment, border control, a more conciliatory China, NATO countries increasing their military budgets, the Abraham Accords and an embassy in Jerusalem. I remember escaping the Paris Accords, cancelling the Iran Deal, ending NAFTA. I remember ISIS mysteriously... disappearing. The caliphate met its unlamented fate, without so much as an obit in the press.

With the possible exception of NAFTA, these were all significant successes, IMO, and I remember them. Do you? Do you remember Pollyanna?

Because, in my Pollyannaism, it sure looks like the Democrats are setting the pins up for a resounding Republican 300 game in the next few years. The pinheads are primed to be bowled over.

The higher the peak of their peak woke lunacy, the greater their fall when the smackdown comes. And whether it is Trump again, or some other Republican, we know the smackdown is coming hard. We have the magic wand. We have seen it done. And it will resemble the fall of the Roman Reich less than Dresden times Nagasaki when it comes.

The left has spent all its political capital. Now, it's on life support with literally borrowed money. Their only way in any direction is to double down on failing programs and lie harder, building the tower of babble higher and higher brick by teetering brick.

I look ahead in my Pollyanna future, and I see the gobsmacking improvement over our country today. I see the Democrat rank and file seeing the gobsmacking improvement over our country today. And I see us all coming together to dance on the grave of the Democrat Party.

But then, I've been an optimist since I was seven.

Newt Gingrich on the Biden Disaster

 by Newt Gingrich

There are so many things going wrong – and so many radically bad decisions being made – it would be useless to focus on just one issue for this column. Before we can solve anything, we need to go item-by-item to understand the insanity, incompetence, and destructiveness which historians will someday write defined the “Biden Disaster.”

Many of these will show up in future columns. Each item represents a threat to America economically, in national security, or culturally. Many will take a generation or more to recover from or solve.

This list is not in any particular order because it is so destructive – and in some cases so weird – I’m not sure a specific sequence exists. Taken together they represent a pattern that will alienate most Americans. If they come to define the modern Democratic Party, the Democrats may turn into a small minority faction for a generation or longer.

1. Inflation is out of control and about to get worse. The Biden administration’s spending policies are driving inflationary pressure as the Federal Reserve plans to expand an already bloated money supply to accommodate the left’s insatiable need for more cash. The stubborn policy against American oil and gas is guaranteeing pain at the pump and sending heating oil and fertilizer prices soaring. The loss of Ukraine and much of Russia as sources of food and fertilizer will guarantee higher food prices – which will cause more pain than gasoline prices.
2. Biden’s declaration that Putin should be tried as a war criminal feels good but is incredibly dangerous. Putin has more than 5,000 nuclear weapons, and he is adjusting the Russian economy to survive the sanctions. Biden will look impotent, and Putin will look like a vicious, brutal survivor.
3. Biden’s shallow dishonesty is further exposed by American reliance on Russia to get to a deal with Iran. The theocratic dictatorship will not deal directly with America, so our negotiations are handled through the Russian ambassador. Furthermore, the Russians are demanding we lift all sanctions on their business with Iran as a price for helping Biden get to a really bad deal with the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.
4. Biden and the West continue to drag their feet on effective military aid to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been Churchillian in his courage and determination. Biden is so pathetic he has made Neville Chamberlain look strong. Ukrainians die every day while American bureaucrats and politicians fail to get them the help they deserve.
5. Disney, like many large corporations, is woke at home while kowtowing to the Chinese and other dictators. The profit-over-patriotism cycle in the big corporations will presently lead to a massive popular repudiation. President Donald Trump in Michigan warned: “We should have zero tolerance for woke CEOs who get rich off the world’s worst human rights abusers abroad while they push radical politics in our classrooms here at home. Giant corporations that do business in Communist China while they attack our values here in America should face a massive and crushing tax on all profits made in China. They should lose all tax breaks and all preferential treatment under U.S. law.”
6. Biden is radically pro-transgender at the expense of women’s rights and is destroying Title IX protections for women in sports.
7. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services flew the transgender flag last week. Congress should pass a bill that only the American flag, and state or host country flags, can be flown on government property, including embassies.
8. The left is introducing bills in Maryland and California that allow babies to be killed days after they are born (28 days in Maryland’s case). Pure direct infanticide is now part of the modern Democratic Party.
9. Democratic cities and George Soros funded district attorneys continue to lead to rising crime. So, Biden nominates a Supreme Court Justice who gives light sentences to convicted pedophiles. Democrats increasingly favor the criminal over the victim and the law breaker over the law enforcer.
10. The southern border is a disaster. To be clear: This disaster is not born of incompetence and its not inevitable. The Biden administration policy is to allow the maximum number of people to illegally enter the United States. In New York City and other leftwing jurisdictions there is growing pressure to let people who are here illegally vote. The upcoming rule to drop public health requirements while Americans are still required to wear masks on airplanes is another example of the passion Democrats have for hurting Americans and helping people who come here illegally.
11. President Biden clearly has cognitive challenges. Vice President Kamala Harris is clearly cognitively hopeless (and may be the dumbest person every elected vice president).

These are dangerous times – and the problems are more historic than political.

America’s safety and survival are at stake. The current White House team is utterly incapable of managing this many simultaneous challenges. https://www.gingrich360.com/2022/04/06/bidens-crisis-of-crises/

Which folder? Humor or Politics?

 

America First worked and protected Europe and Ukraine

Despite all the fretting over Trump's "America First" rhetoric, his administration strengthened relations with key partners. The Biden Administration has lost them all.

The two invasions of Ukraine—2014 against Crimea and now against the Ukrainian homeland—took place under two weak Democratic presidents. President Trump’s combination of military build-up, tough talk and unpredictability arguably kept malign Russian ambitions at bay.

Follow the five points in this article. https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/21/what-trump-got-right-about-central-europe-ukraine-and-the-politics-of-security/

The War in Ethiopia has been made worse by our focus on Ukraine

"Footage and news coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been all-encompassing. This is partly because widespread social media use in Ukraine and partly because reporters have much greater access to the front lines.

In Ethiopia, both of these are massively restricted. Clips of military strikes in Mariupol fill our TV screens while next to no footage of the atrocities which have taken place in the East African country have surfaced.

Also, while journalists are prevented from showing the world the tragedy being inflicted upon millions of people, humanitarian aid has also been blocked from accessing the affected regions.

The invasion of Ukraine has, unfortunately, only made this issue worse, as global attention on the war has meant that humanitarian aid has been redirected."

https://scrolla.africa/meanwhile-in-that-other-war-death-toll-in-ethiopia-reaches-500000/

Four years ago this April, our church UALC was celebrating with the Oromo Church of Central Ohio its move to a new church building which we helped fund.  The Oromo people are from Ethiopia, and one of their own is the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

End of the month round up. The world of Biden just gets crazier. Food shortages. Jesus the gardener.

The misinformation "Baghdad Bob" lady, Nina Jankowicz,  that's going to run the "truth office" of the DHS has really stirred things up, hasn't she? I wrote about her before. I wonder if it has anything to do with how many Hispanics and Blacks are turning to the GOP? https://news.yahoo.com/voters-including-parents-latinos-more-202715405.html  Democrats think men can be women by hoping/thinking, and that Ivermectin is unsafe, and that free speech is bad if they aren't in control. Some truth guards they are. Even immigrants know when they are being conned--look where they come from and what they are fleeing!  The Democrats need a venue in Spanish to explain their constant drumbeat about race, color and sex. What better way than using the office that first greets them (and hundreds of other nations) at the border? Can you even imagine the uproar from the media if Donald Trump had suggested he owned free speech and that's all you could hear or know. Wow.

While returning from the gym this morning I heard an old Catholic homily on the importance of the inauguration of Barack Obama. Father John Ricardo, Pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Plymouth, Michigan. https://podbay.fm/p/fr-john-riccardos-podcasts/about   Obviously from their 2009 archives, but I can't locate it for a link. He began with what an historic, important event it was and how we all needed to pray for the new president. And he moved on to the danger of Obama's anti-life mission and how he intended to undo the protections for life already in the law. (At that time, Obama's stance on abortion was the most radical of all politicians, state and federal.)  My mind drifted to the sad fact that instead of the hope people had at the time of his election for healing of old racial wounds (even I was hopeful there would be less manic concern about race) he exacerbated and poked his finger in the eyes of all who support his leftist goals. What a shame.  It could have turned out so differently.  The racism ball had been rolling in academe for a long time--now it picked up speed. 

Recently I wrote about some shortages.  Strange ones.  But this morning at Wal-Mart I found oyster crackers, both name brand (over $3) and house brand ($1).  I bought 2 packages since I didn't know how good they would be, but I should have bought more.  I've already eaten about half a package, and they are fine.  I also found Hersey's dark cacao. That was in short supply or unavailable where I usually shop, so I bought two.  I don't want to strip the shelves and create shortages. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/05/dark-chocolate-is-good-for-us.html

Last Sunday's sermon by our senior pastor Steve Turnbull had an interesting take on Mary at the Tomb in John 20, https://youtu.be/YszBm-7Eml4  and her meeting the one she thought was the gardener. What if Mary wasn't wrong.  What if there is a gardener; we long to do something with our lives.  I found an interesting site on the internet that uses art--paintings, woodcuts, tapestry--with that theme--Mary meeting Jesus as a gardener. In the paintings Jesus is often shown with a hoe or spade.  Sometimes a hat and overalls.   Browse and enjoy.  The art is incredible.    https://artandtheology.org/2016/04/05/she-mistook-him-for-the-gardener/  I went back and listened to the sermon again.

Last night we went to our favorite Friday night date restaurant, the Rusty Bucket, with Bill and Joyce, and Joan and Jerry and then back to Joan's for dessert--peach cobbler made by Joyce. All of us have summer homes.  Bill and Joyce leave about mid-May for their home on an island in Lake Erie and we just signed the papers to sell our home in Lakeside. Jerry is recovering from some serious surgery and so we don't know when they'll get to Michigan. We all go to the same church where we met within the last 2 decades.   

What happened to the disciples?

                      

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

No change in five years

Five years ago, April 28, 2017, I wrote this:

"Why should conservative taxpayers be paying to fund our "everything is hate speech" universities? By far the largest areas of state spending, on average, are education (both K-12 and higher education) and health care. Why should you pay to have the state turn your kids against you and your values?"

I was thinking about that today as the demand to pay other people's college debts grows. Yes, some college graduates have high debts. I don't. Maybe the plumber has debts for his trucks. Or the guy who was sweeping up broken glass from the accident yesterday at Five Points has a second mortgage, or the one on the mower this morning is trying to pay back the coyote who got him into the country, or my newly retired neighbors who moved in two weeks ago will have some debt to redo the 80s decorating of their unit, or the woman with a cane I saw shopping at Aldi's today could sure use an extra $500 a month for live comfortably. Those are the people who will be paying the debts of these primarily young, healthy adults with a bright future ahead of them.  Why do they need these people to pay off their debt? Debt they agreed to. Someone pays, you know. It's not "forgiven." We the taxpayer get stuck with it.  And why should they ask people they don't respect or admire to pay for their rent, nights out, pizza and beer, drugs, football games, travel costs, ripped jeans, and new computers?

A caller to the Dennis Prager show this morning said he fears for the future of our country. His kids (he was divorced in 2017) lived with him during the pandemic lockdown and he got a look at the on-line classes. He was sickened. His 16 year old told him Abraham Lincoln was the most racist of all the presidents. She knows that because her teacher told her.  His college age daughter is learning the same drivel. He asked Dennis Prager what could he do. The show went to commercial, and I arrived at my destination. But paying for these misinformed and silly children to go to college isn't the answer.

Biden's Disinformation officer already accused of disinformation herself

"Nina Jankowicz is President Joe Biden's pick to serve as executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's new Disinformation Governance Board—and her appointment has already met with some controversy."

It seems she thought the Laptop from Hell (Hunter Biden) was disinformation.  Protect Biden at all costs and we may never know what is mis- dis- or fake.  

https://www.newsweek.com/who-nina-jankowicz-head-joe-biden-disinformation-governance-board-1701677

Update: Remember Bagdad Bob from 2 decades ago? "Sahaf's nickname, "Baghdad Bob," now denotes someone who confidently declares what everyone else can see is false--someone so wrong, it's funny. But when read beside the eventual cost of America's decade in Iraq, "Baghdad Bob" isn't so funny anymore."

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/03/baghdad-bob-and-his-ridiculous-true-predictions/274241/

What is a vaccine and why did the definition change?

 Another high official in government has also tested positive for Covid although fully vaccinated with 2 boosters--the Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack.  https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/04/10/michigan-supreme-court-chief-justice-mccormack-tests-positive-covid/9533602002/  The other we know about is Kamala Harris--fully vaccinated with 2 boosters.  https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-kamala-harris-dadf170fbacfd57922cdf51d59e87cdb   Meanwhile, the vaccines are still "emergency use" although President Trump's "Warp Speed" plan became available in December 2020, even though more people died in 2021 under Biden with all the advances and vaccines than under Trump in 2020.  In order to cover for all the misinformation and silencing of other opinions, the language had to be changed. I noticed the second booster isn't being pushed--my doctor says it's optional and the protection seems to be slight.

Here's how the definition has changed, yet many of us older (than 30) people still think of immunity rather than just less severe disease.  Notice the word "protecting" has disappeared as has "produce immunity."

We Bruces got the Pfizer version in February 2021 with great excitement, relief, and awe at the incredible system our local health systems had established in the such a short time.  It was touted, as I recall, at about 90% or higher, had by fall had dropped to 16%. 

The prior CDC Definitions of Vaccine and Vaccination (August 26, 2021):

Vaccine: A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease. Vaccines are usually administered through needle injections, but can also be administered by mouth or sprayed into the nose.

Vaccination: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a specific disease.

The CDC Definitions of Vaccine and Vaccination since September 1, 2021:

Vaccine: A preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases. Vaccines are usually administered through needle injections, but some can be administered by mouth or sprayed into the nose.

Vaccination: The act of introducing a vaccine into the body to produce protection from a specific disease.

See the complete story to follow how "the right wing" was accused of misinformation for pointing this out, and the e-mail exchange in CDC to get a work around. https://technofog.substack.com/p/cdc-emails-our-definition-of-vaccine?s=r  This is how the "misinformation" and fake news becomes a story about the misinformation and was the cause of conservatives being removed from Twitter.

 

Have you been following the Durham investigation?

I'll just put this here so I can find it, or so the Russia, Russia, Russia hoaxers will.

https://technofog.substack.com/p/durhams-latest-he-has-hundreds-of?

Durham states he is in possession of “hundreds of emails in which Fusion GPS employees shared raw, unverified, and uncorroborated information – including their own draft research and work product – with reporters.” (He even filed them under seal with the court.) These include:

Emails with Slate’s Franklin Foer from May 14, 2016 in which Fusion GPS conveys information on a Trump advisor and Alfa Bank.

July 26, 2016 e-mails from Fusion GPS to the Wall Street Journal communicating allegations from Christopher Steele stating “a Trump advisor meeting with a former KGB official close to Putin … would be huge news.”

July 29 and July 31, 2016 emails with a reporter (Washington Post’s Tom Hamburger) concerning Carter Page’s investments and meetings with Russians - of which the reporter said “Its bullshit.”

And many others--check the link.

Twitter as a private company--what does it mean?

Article by Michael Rechtenwald "Elon Musk's Twitter Gambit and What It Means to the "Clique in Power"

"Elon Musk’s bid to take over Twitter and turn it into a private company has apparently been successful. Now the real action begins. Musk’s buyout exposes the Big Digital media complex to unwanted and unwonted competition, while threatening to loosen its near-total control of information and opinion. Twitter has represented a vital component in an information configuration that has barred competitors and participants from the digital sphere by means of progressive criteria, including wokeness, political fealty, and obedience to official state dictates and narratives.

The response to the Twitter takeover by the arbiters of acceptable expression has been as hysterical as it has been swift. The New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Media Matters for America, members of the establishment professoriate, and other “experts” have rushed to fortify the defensive forces against free speech."

Read the entire article: https://mises.org/wire/elon-musks-twitter-gambit-and-what-it-means-clique-power

Now it's a shortage of crackers?

 I haven't been able to find oyster crackers at 3 different stores, so I figured I'd go on-line and ask.  I didn't know there were forums that report complaints about shortages, but there are.  It seems there is a shortage of both saltines and oyster crackers and soup lovers are complaining. Some report that they can't even get them from Amazon!  I like the oyster crackers for convenience and I eat less of them than saltines, which I tend to load up with cheese.  So I have no idea if it's a supply chain problem, or people cutting back on more expensive snacks and thus creating a shortage among lower priced items. I did check a small Pepperidge Farms Outlet in my neighborhood, and there absolutely is no shortage of the little Goldfish shaped crackers. 

Trans-pasta for lunch

I know it's popular among those watching their carbs, but this trans-pasta thing with zucchini spirals or squash in spaghetti pasta shapes just isn't working for me. It simply becomes a pile of zucchini  with tomato/meat sauce on top. Same with cauliflower that looks like white rice. Vegetables are not flour products or rice. 

And in other trans news: "Matt Walsh’s tale about a boy who pretends to be a walrus was intended as commentary on the debate over transgender children. But Amazon removed the popular book from its LGBTQ list."

Don't look for Captain America

Kirk Cameron on Elon Musk and freedom of speech:

" I like Avenger movies. While we all love a savage superhero… looking to one man with lots of money and power to fix our problems is how people unwittingly enslave themselves. How? By looking to the wrong source for their freedom and protection. While I’m thankful for Elon’s crusade to save free speech, it should have been “we the people,” (all of us) full of faith and character who render bad companies powerless (by holding them accountable) and build good ones in their place (by putting our money and time where our mouth is).

 
Perhaps, and I hope, that is exactly what Elon is doing. But if we want lasting freedom and blessing, we must not look for a Captain America to be our free speech Savior. The Savior position is has already been permanently filled by the only qualified candidate, and “we the people” need to step up our game and self-govern with our combined powers of faith, character and courage or a bigger, badder Thanos will gladly fill the void and do the governing for us."

Preparing for Lakeside Women's Club

 Evidence that the Lakeside Women's Club has strong leadership is the current president, Barbara Browning.  She has had a long career in teaching and family life, including shepherding her family into their current Lakeside lifestyle.  I've only known her about three years, and as I recall it was cultural issues and not religion or hobbies or book club that brought us together. One amazing feat was her convincing me to prepare brief devotions for the weekly meetings of the Women's Club for summer 2022.  You wouldn't think that someone who loves to write, explain, cajole, argue, research and ramble for 20 years on the internet and who has been scribbling in some form since I was 6 or 7 could be so hesitant to speak in public.  I'd rather pull weeds or clean an attic than speak to an audience.  I get light headed, the room swims, and I can't put a sentence together.  But when Barb asks, you just can't say No. Her secret seems to be she believes in people!  So I came up with a plan to make it more palatable.

Last summer one of the Lakeside chaplains for the week was retired Methodist pastor John Ed Mathison, a well known (but not to me) motivational speaker who established Leadership Ministries in 2008 when he retired after 36 years as pastor of Frazer Memorial UMC in Alabama.  His current ministry includes a Daily Message, a weekly blog, a daily radio message, and weekly videos and of course, extensive public speaking.  He's authored a number of books, and I bought one based on his radio ministry titled, "Got a minute? 365 Daily inspirational messages for those on the Go!" To open a LWC meeting one only needs a minute or two, and it shouldn't be the heavy theological themes I'm drawn to. So along with my own morning devotions I've been checking different "minutes" in his book to use this summer. John Ed does a lot of sports, youth, and goal setting themes.  I hate setting goals, so I avoid those; I'm not athletic, so I skip those.  However, John Ed didn't get to be famous without knowing how to draw in a diverse, busy and even not so religious group.  It's also a podcast, so you can download an app and listen to him in his sweet Alabam voice. https://johnedmathison.org/  I'm looking forward to sharing some of those radio minutes this summer.

Today I read about Liz Smith, a director of nursing, who fostered and then adopted a baby girl, Gisele, who was born physically challenged and extremely premature.  In a minute John Ed told her amazing story. I know so many adoptive and foster parents at Lakeside (and in Columbus) I thought it would be a good story to share. Ever the researcher, I then checked the internet for the story, and found it had been featured on a number of TV and news stories.  From there I went to the Facebook page of Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston where Ms. Smith worked and read many more stories of some of the children, parents and staff of a remarkable facility. So now I'm a "follower" of that FB page.  https://www.facebook.com/FranciscanChildrens  

 https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/04/06/massachusetts-nurse-adopts-hospitalized-baby-who-had-no-visitors/

https://nurse.org/articles/nurse-adopts-baby-no-visitors/

https://lakesideohio.com/about-lakeside/community-organizations/lakeside-womens-club/

What has happened to marriage--and families, and churches, and jobs, and morals, and home building and education

 In 1949, 78.8% of all U.S. households had married couples. By last year, 47.3% had married couples. And guess what, marriage rates by race tracks with poverty among children.  The highest rate of marriage is among Asians; next whites, then Hispanic, and then blacks. 

  

If I find more recent links, I'll add.  It has fallen off the radar on topics people want to research.  Most meaty articles are about five years old.

Zuby interviews Tyler Alvarez about Homelessness--Housing First hurts!

 I really enjoy Zuby's podcasts.  He's British with an American accent.  His parents are Nigerian.  He is conservative and hosts many people on a variety of issues.  He's a hip hop artist and a body builder also.  In this interview he discusses the Housing First movement with Tyler Alvarez who worked in that program in San Diego and has found it to be a  failure.  Alvarez estimates that in LA or San Francisco the city spends from $750,000 to $800,000 per homeless person a year in the Housing First programs.  It's insane, but it also keeps many people employed who are in the "helping" professions and the housing business.  It's a shame. Homelessness increases because the problem is not their home, it's their addictions and their mental health.  It's also the enabling of the people who have good intentions. Alvarez estimated that of the 50 people he was able to place in housing, only one really was successful, and she was really motivated to help her five children.  

Donating money or food and volunteering he also believes does not help in the long run because of the wages and careers of the staff.  He recommends getting involved in your local city politics--know who are the big players getting rich on these schemes.  You have to really push to get the real numbers on what this costs your community.  Don't accept squishy words or guilting/shaming you. Alvarez calls it "pathological altruism" the way the homeless are treated by do-gooders.

https://www.zubymusic.com/podcast/episode/2ff16f4c/201-tyler-alvarez-how-housing-first-hurts-the-homeless

 https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/581841-lessons-learned-from-a-failed-bet-on-housing-first/

https://www.heritage.org/housing/report/the-housing-first-approach-has-failed-time-reform-federal-policy-and-make-it-work

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/feb/18/housing-first-promised-to-solve-homelessness-it-fa/ 

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/housing-first-effectiveness

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/03/california-homeless-housing-first-policy-is-failing/

Musk will again attempt free speech as promoted by our Constitution

 "SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) — The Twitter board Monday voted to accept a takeover offer from Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a deal at $44 billion.

Musk took to the social media platform, tweeting out “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it. ”The deal took the San Francisco-based company private, purchasing shares at about $54.20 a share.

In a news release, Musk said his goal in acquiring Twitter was to make it better.

Before the opening bell Monday, shares of Twitter Inc. rose 5% with trading halted at the time of the announcement."

Until social media like Google, YouTube, Twitter and others began to control politicians and the news media, I considered it a private matter for a private company to set its own standards.  Now, however, Big Tech is controlling the public square where freedom of speech and assembly is to take place.  It will still be private and non-government, however from the screams from the Leftist amongst us many are not happy to have unapproved opinions out there where others could be influenced.  Journalists, who should be the ones most concerned about cancelling and stifling, have been the most obnoxious.  

Adults over 50 as a group don't have good nutrition

Dr. Chris Taylor, PhD, RDN, LD, professor of Medical Dietetics and Family Medicine at Ohio State University says that another group that may need early intervention in nutrition education is older adults. What may surprise many is the age group that needs it.

“We learned that adults in their 50s exhibit the poorest diet quality,” Taylor said. “Many of them are still working full time and are more likely to eat out.” They’re less likely to meet appropriate nutrient thresholds and tend to consume poorer quality food.

“These are adults who aren’t setting a stage for successful aging,” Taylor said. “Typically, we don’t counsel people on nutrition until there’s a problem [like obesity or diabetes]. We need to understand how important nutrition is to successful aging strategies. We need to start talking earlier rather than addressing poor outcomes when adults are in their 60s or 70s.

“The single nutrient perspective makes you miss the important point. Just focusing on one element like low carbohydrates doesn’t help us understand the big picture. What strategies should you employ? You need to look at the influence of the entire diet.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32996366/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31181765/

Russian Oligarch's yacht is seized--$90 million--in Spain

The first of many, I'm sure. Biden's "helping" with sanctions and boycotts.  But our government has the power to shut down any business it doesn't like. Vekselberg isn't a U.S. citizen, he's a Russian, and most likely a bad dude.  Plus the yacht was in Spain. His goodies are probably not safe in Russia.  Think of all evidence there is that Hunter Biden accepted millions from a Ukrainian firm to buy influence with his father and our government did diddly squat. This court order was only in place a few weeks; the Biden scandal has been going on for years.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/90-million-yacht-sanctioned-russian-oligarch-viktor-vekselberg-seized-spain-request-united

"Spanish law enforcement today executed a Spanish court order freezing the Motor Yacht (M/Y) Tango (the Tango), a 255-foot luxury yacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Spanish authorities acted pursuant to a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance following the issuance of a seizure warrant, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which alleged that the Tango was subject to forfeiture based on violation of U.S. bank fraud, money laundering, and sanction statutes. . .

“Today marks our taskforce’s first seizure of an asset belonging to a sanctioned individual with close ties to the Russian regime. It will not be the last,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war.”

“Today’s action makes clear that corrupt Russian oligarchs cannot evade sanctions to live a life of luxury as innocent Ukrainians are suffering,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “Today the Department of Justice delivers on our commitment to hold accountable those whose criminal activity strengthens the Russian government as it continues to wage its unjust war in Ukraine. That commitment is one we are not finished honoring.”

Google Docs has become the latest speech enforcer

 We've all seen language evolve, but some of the kinder, sweeter, more leftist inclusive stuff is just nonsense and gag-worthy.  Google is now eliminating or suggesting alternates for "mother" or "lord" or "master" in some well-known idiomatic expressions.  It reminds me of some of the ridiculous phrase twisting we lived through in the 80s and 90s, like "handicapped" or all the polite ways to say "mentally challenged" instead of "retarded."  A whole generation of adolescents had to give up a favorite common insult.  The word "challenged" has become a joke.  I use it when I tell people I'm math challenged, or directionally challenged. (If I don't have my watch on my left wrist, don't give me directions.)  So that has given us pregnant people and assigned sex at birth. Remember a few years back when someone who didn't have a good grasp of English thought "niggardly" was a reference to blacks?  People are so incensed with "black face" (used mostly by Democrat entertainers and politicians like Jimmy Kimmel and Joy Behar) last week there was a black DJ at a high school dance accused of wearing black face--that's the live reenactment of being overly sensitive about words.  I'm so old I remember when black was the insult and Negro was the correct term. I think even "senior citizen" is on the chopping block.

https://www.techradar.com/news/google-docs-is-having-some-serious-issues-with-its-new-inclusive-language-warnings

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7dk8m/googles-ai-powered-inclusive-warnings-feature-is-very-broken

https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-inclusive-language-cancel-culture-censor-free-speech-offended-woke-micro-aggression-microsoft-11642800484

Moving right? Where's the plumb line?

 I saw an opinion piece (based I'm sure on someone's academic research while quarantined happily) that American voters are moving to the right.  I suspect that depends on where you place center.  Yes, more blacks and Hispanics are fleeing the Democrat party. That doesn't mean the spineless Republicans have any appeal.  Their personal values, particularly on sex and children, are probably more conservative than whites, who are a mishmash of many races and cultures. Minorities made huge gains under Trump, and all Biden has provided is promises and high inflation.  If CRT and wokeism in the classrooms of first graders is the plumb line, and if social media are considered the standard for American voters, I suppose it looks like we're moving to the right.  But I don't see it, particularly not in my community of Upper Arlington, Ohio.  Our public library has a miniscule collection for conservative Christians of any denomination, and as far as politics and social issues, you might find one or two authors against hundreds of the other ilk. Our churches seem as lost in the fog as the media.  I'll have to check and see if any of my conservative friends have taken off their muzzles and face masks.

Obama's North Star certainly isn't the Constitution

"Obama comes out to get mad about disinformation: Yesterday [April 21] at Stanford, President Obama gave a sweeping speech about disinformation, my favorite thing to complain about people complaining about. He called for more government regulation of platforms (they should be “be required to have a higher standard of care when it comes to advertising on their site”) and criticized big tech’s business model (“inflammatory content attracts engagement”).

“These companies need to have some other north star other than just making money and increasing market share,” the former president said.

We have an idea of what that North Star can be: how about the constitution? There’s a First Amendment in there that seems like a pretty great articulation of what the values of a social media company ought to be."  Nellie Bowles, "Common Sense" April 22, 2022  

Alcohol deaths during the Covid lockdowns

"The number and rate of alcohol-related deaths increased approximately 25% between 2019 and 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates increased prior to the pandemic, but less rapidly (2.2% mean annual percent change between 1999 and 2017). The rate increase for alcohol-related deaths in 2020 outpaced the increase in all-cause mortality, which was 16.6%.

Previous reports suggest the number of opioid overdose deaths increased 38% in 2020, with a 55% increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. There were similar increases in the number of deaths in which alcohol contributed to overdoses of opioids (40.8%) and, specifically, synthetic opioids (59.2%).

Deaths involving alcohol reflect hidden tolls of the pandemic. Increased drinking to cope with pandemic-related stressors, shifting alcohol policies, and disrupted treatment access are all possible contributing factors. Whether alcohol-related deaths will decline as the pandemic wanes, and whether policy changes could help reduce such deaths, warrants consideration.

Study limitations include inaccurate death certificates, such as underreporting of alcohol involvement,6 and unclear causal relationships among listed causes of deaths. Provisional data are subject to change when more death certificates are processed."

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2790491

https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/topics/addiction/alcohol-related-disorders/covid-19-pandemic-disproportionate-affect-on-women-led-to-increased-alcohol-use/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/women-alcohol-and-covid-19-2021040622219