Is he a dog or a woman or a tree?

I don't know if Megan Rohrer is a transwoman or a transman, but Rohrer was a bishop in the Sierra Pacific ELCA (Lutheran) Synod. I say WAS because Rohrer has resigned due to another issue, not the gnosis where the mind has delusions of being in the wrong body. The squabble seems to have been about a Spanish speaking congregation with BLM overtones or maybe undertones. ELCA does not speak for "Lutherans" of other synods, and maybe not even for their own members by electing Rohrer.

If my mind tells me that I'm in the wrong body, what's to keep it from deciding my mind really resides in a body that is a dog. . . or a dogwood tree? It's my mind--shouldn't I have a voice rather than your antiquated theories of gender? Because transgenderism has morphed into the woke movement (part of critical theory based on Marxist ideas of oppression and oppressors) there's no reason it can't expand to accept my delusions too. But because I still have a mind, my mind is telling my body to refute and criticize the gender/woke delusions currently residing in the medical, education, religious and entertainment industries. I won't settle there and I won't use their silly language.

New federal regulation in HHS concerning conscience rights

"This is an election (2022) about power and control," said Planned Parenthood. I rarely agree with PP, but that's one comment, although they mean the opposite of what I believe, they are right about. Power to kill AND control your religious and speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Biden administration which is bankrolled by powerful organizations like the teachers' unions, Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Emily's List, wealthy woke corporations and Soros backed entities, is proposing a new HHS rule which would force doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals to perform-participate in abortions, transgender mutilations and other procedures pro-life conservatives (and probably many Democrats who are Christians) consider morally bankrupt, cruel and sinful. By law, even morally stunted bureaucrats must accept comments on rules like this. Make your voice heard. Don't just comment your outrage to your friends on FB, tell Joe how you REALLY feel about being forced to participate in sin. Regulations.gov. 

When you look at "conscience protections" we already have it's hard to believe we'd go through this again, but the pro-death forces are very well organized, financed and backed up with clever lawyers (in the N.T. they are called Pharisees and Sadducees). It will be "found" in the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). If the rule passes, it could close hospitals and end the careers of many fine doctors and nurses and healthcare staff. Maybe you are undecided on transgender/affirmation thought, but would you assist in removing the healthy breasts of a middle school girl, or castrating a little boy at the request of his parents or social workers? It's the ultimate child abuse.

The only Christians that seem to be well organized enough to fight this and sound an alarm are the Catholics. I could find very little on it, but here's one https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/04/05/transgender-abortion-hhs-242759 If your church or denomination has a bioethics department, check with them. If not, take it to your Sunday School class. This is our abolitionist movement. Don't be caught asleep at the switch.

This is the government double speak that describes this: HHS Announces Proposed Rule to Strengthen Nondiscrimination in Health Care | HHS.gov. These days all victim theories are put in the context of the civil rights rulings, a huge smokescreen. This at least assures you it is Joe Biden's doing through an executive order. It twists the meaning of "restores rights" "stands up for" and "affirms"--the bureaucrat who wrote this must have grown up on 1984 Newspeak.

Philosophical Puzzles about Transgenderism — The National Catholic Bioethics Center (ncbcenter.org)

Did Obama take 30 million documents?

The headlines of the anti-Trump fact checkers are that Trump lied about Obama taking 30 million documents with him when he left the WH. But when you read the article it says yes, Obama took tens of thousands of documents to Chicago, BUT they go on to say they then went to possession of federal government archives after sorting to be digitized and made available to the public. In other words, Trump was right again and this is a word war with fact checkers. Really, you can't trust these checkers whether in print on paper or pixels on your screens. Has anyone seen or used digitized Obama papers taken from WH? It has been 6 years. Are they redacted? Do they exist? That's your assignment.

The Obama Foundation says the Archives control 1.5 Billion Obama pages--but those are the "born digital" documents. He couldn't have removed them even if he tried. It goes on to say there are 30 million paper documents he took which WILL Be digitized. I saw no way to get into this data dump. It's like a library hit by a tornado if they are even there. If you use the timeline and go to "Afghanistan trip" I found 3 photos probably available on the internet and easier to use. No pdf or e-mail trace. No scanned hard copies. This library is either a hoax or has only hired the janitor. 6 years.

Old tapes stored in Bill Clinton's sock drawer may have a impact on the MAL case. Old Case Over What Bill Clinton Hid in His Sock Drawer Could Unravel FBI's Mar-a-Lago Raid (westernjournal.com) U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington D.C. ultimately rejected Judicial Watch's suit by concluding there was no provision in the Presidential Records Act to force the National Archives to seize records from a former president.

Unfriending on social media--divisive or deserved?

"Democratic voters are almost three times as likely to have “blocked, unfriended, or stopped following someone on social media” after Donald Trump’s victory, according to a study released Monday [Dec. 2016]."

No surprise here. Democrats are not inclusive and hate diversity of thought or opinion. IMO, they are also more likely to be racist in their support of policies that hurt blacks and other minorities through their own good intentions. That said, that article is 6 years old. So I am also less likely to "friend" a Democrat whereas before I was much more forgiving and open minded. It really began with the BDS--Bush derangement syndrome--before a black president, an orange president, and the current confused resident of the WH. Now, if I don't know they are conservatives but we are acquainted, I choose not to put up with it. And so the divide widens.

Mom Jeans

Usually, you would not trust a librarian for fashion advice. It's not just a stereotype. . .

 
Mom jeans. Remember that term? I'd never heard of it until they made fun of Obama wearing "mom jeans" for riding a bicycle. My friend Bev says it was a popular term in the 70s. But I saw jeans at Wal-Mart labeled, "Mom Jeans," and bought a pair. Great fit and comfort. High rise with extra room in the thighs. Soft, slightly faded denim. I bought up a size since I had no idea of the fit or how they would wash. I only found them in junior size which I probably haven't worn for 60 years. Love them.  Went back and got another pair in a darker shade.

"The mom jean silhouette is a specific one. Its defining features include a high-waist, which helps to streamline the figure, as well as an ever so slightly baggy leg. Most purists will say that mom jeans fall straight on the legs, but the truth is that there are already an infinity of silhouettes within this category, as long as they keep the high rise: Flared, baggy, and balloon are some of the most popular variations." Vogue, April 15, 2022

Covid and Wokeism

Covid and Wokeism. This writer, David Suissa, calls them both viruses, but I'd say one is a virus, the other is a metastasis. Both have hit us at the same time creating suspicion, anger, incivility and fear. The virus is inclusive; the metastasis is exclusionary. The virus goes after our cells; the other after our souls.

"It’s odd that these two major forces have hit us at the same time. They’re mirror opposites. The fear of dying from COVID makes us small and humble and deeply grateful just to be alive. 

Wokeism nurtures the opposite of gratitude. We feel cocky, entitled and intolerant. Anyone who offends us must be attacked, if not cancelled. Any speaker who will offend us must be stopped. We have a right to not be exposed to anything that might hurt our feelings or make us feel “unsafe.” " . . .

"Wokeism is a symptom of modern decadence, when maximum convenience and comfort trigger a nostalgia for epic struggles and dramatic causes. Absent these historic movements of yesteryear, the woke must come up with endless grievances to gain power and boost their self-esteem. That’s why they can’t stand to recognize real progress—it undermines their grievance-obsessed narrative.

A key tenet of wokeism is to preach inclusion and diversity, but with a crucial catch: Wokeism scrupulously excludes ideological diversity, which would be too messy. We’re inclusive in all ways, in other words, except when it comes to your opinions.

 
COVID is truly all-inclusive. It comes after all of us. It’s straightforward. It wants to enter our bodies and contaminate our cells. . . wokeism contaminates our souls. "

Sunrise, August 15 at Lakeside

 

Can you see the Naked Ladies?  That's the name for the pink lilies that pop up about the first week in August with no leaves to cover their beauty.  We have a few in our yard, with some on the table right now that had fallen down.  You can also see in the photo in the distance a freighter that has arrived in Marblehead to load up oar from the quarry.  Yesterday I saw three of them, one in dock, one near by, and a third one further out.  I've heard it's the largest quarry in the country.  Our friend Tony who a member of a geologist/rock club was inside the mine this past week collecting beautiful rocks with gem stones (don't recall what they are called), and he gave us one with purple and blue stones in it.  He says the pieces are so sharp (broken up and left by large equipment} that glove, shoes and pants can be ruined in just one trip into the mines.

Anne Herbert, a not so good prophet

"The only way I can make any sense of recent presidential elections is that the most vivid person wins, regardless of content, because too many of us have been dressing our lives in beiges and are suckers for a red tie and shiny shoes that look like relative strength. " Anne Herbert, APRIL 1983 (The Sun magazine)

I had never heard of this writer before today (or so I thought), but this quote is attributed to her, and obviously the 2020 election made her a bad prophet. The most bland, beige, but evil one was appointed the winner in the last presidential election. The one with the red tie, the one most vivid who could draw thousands to come out to hear him and the hate and ire of the media, the one who terrified the deep swamp and Big Tech both, the one with the track record for making all lives better, even life for those not yet born, didn't return to the White House. I'm down the rabbit hole of Herbert's movement (The Kindness Movement of the 1990s) and I may have more to say later. Maybe not. This may be it. She apparently preferred Carter over Reagan--but so did I, so what can I say?

List of 30 good things President Trump has done for America - Wayne Grudem

Facebook is following you

 Meta injecting code into websites to track its users, research says | Meta | The Guardian

“Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been rewriting websites its users visit, letting the company follow them across the web after they click links in its apps, according to new research from an ex-Google engineer. The two apps have been taking advantage of the fact that users who click on links are taken to webpages in an “in-app browser”, controlled by Facebook or Instagram, rather than sent to the user’s web browser of choice, such as Safari or Firefox. “The Instagram app injects their tracking code into every website shown, including when clicking on ads, enabling them [to] monitor all user interactions, like every button and link tapped, text selections, screenshots, as well as any form inputs, like passwords, addresses and credit card numbers,” says Felix Krause, a privacy researcher who founded an app development tool acquired by Google in 2017. In a statement, Meta said that injecting a tracking code obeyed users’ preferences on whether or not they allowed apps to follow them, and that it was only used to aggregate data before being applied for targeted advertising or measurement purposes for those users who opted out of such tracking…” It would be a good idea to read the whole article.

Lunch on August 12

 I went to the farmer's market this morning and bought beets with leaves, Swiss chard in 2 colors, tomatoes, peaches and some bakery treats.  I already had spinach, onions, etc. on hand.  So here's a photo of lunch, which we ate on the deck because the weather was wonderful--chicken tetrazzini, fresh cooked beets, steamed spinach, and a raspberry scone.  All very yummy.  But in the middle of the afternoon, I remembered I hadn't taken my Xarelto (blood thinner), which I remembered I put on the plate so I wouldn't forget it. Apparently, I ate it with the chicken.  To be sure, I enlarged the photo, and see it sitting there trying to look like part of the rust colored flower on the plate. So, I'm trusting I ate it.

Monkey Pox

A note from my doctor (not to me personally, but to all COPC patients):

"We don’t know whether it [monkey pox] can be spread from someone without symptoms and that is also being researched. At the time of this writing, the infection is being seen mostly in gay and bisexual men. Therefore, this group should be extra vigilant in monitoring for symptoms and take precautions to limit their exposure.

Avoid skin-to-skin contact with anyone with a rash that looks like Monkeypox and avoid sharing objects or clothing that someone with a rash has used. Frequent hand washing with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer is also recommended."

Do you suppose if someone shows up at work or school classes, they will be asked to leave because work spaces are tight or work items--door knobs, pencils, books, copiers, toilets--have to be shared, or would that be homophobic?  The pictures I've seen look a lot worse than a "rash."  If they show up at ER, how will others be protected?

Also, Biden didn't act quickly on this and the vaccine is in short supply. The first U.S. case was identified in May 2022, and now it's called a global health emergency.  How are we to avoid it if it is also on people's hands? I've looked at the photos and it looks very painful, plus disfiguring.  Time to bring out the hand sanitizer and gloves?

This video is so low key and careful about saying anything that might upset anyone. But it sounds like how HIV got out of control in the 80s after it began in the gay community.

https://youtu.be/1eJw-KH0wcI

Gender and sexuality alliance clubs in our schools

"The main national organization behind this campaign, the GSA Network, is a professionally staffed nonprofit with a multimillion-dollar annual budget. GSA Network serves as an umbrella organization for more than 4,000 “gender and sexuality alliances” across 40 states. Once called the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, the group rebranded in 2016, reflecting a new focus on “the limits of a binary gender system.” The individual chapters, which operate in elementary, middle, and high schools, often use the language of “LGBTQ inclusion” and “anti-bullying” in their public relations, but behind the scenes, the central organization is driven by pure left-wing radicalism that extends far beyond sexuality."

GSA isn't subtle about it's goals. It's not just to sexualize your children--comes complete with the usual anti-capitalist pro-Marxist drivel. I wonder who is funding these clubs?

"In a manifesto, the organization calls for the “abolition of the police,” the “abolition of borders and ICE,” the payment of “reparations” to minorities, the “decolonization” of native lands, the end of “global white supremacy,” and the overthrow of the “cisgender heterosexual patriarchy.” The organization is also explicitly anti-capitalist: its literature is littered with references to “anti-capitalism” and, during one board meeting, its leaders fantasized about what life would be like “after capitalism falls.”

GSA Clubs Smuggle Gender Ideology into K-12 Education (city-journal.org)

All conservatives (and liberals too who are figuring out this scam) need to understand the basics--these expanding victim groups which supposedly are about equality, diversity, fairness, tolerance, etc. are at their roots, Marxist. It won't end. Don't look for common sense, American values, decency, fairness, tolerance and certainly your kids won't get a good education. The point of all this is manipulation--to destroy, divide and conquer. Gay or straight, black, white or brown, immigrant or native, all children will be hurt, but they (and you) are being used to destroy the family and society through the schools.

It worked in the 20th century--they murdered 100 million of their own people in various countries using class warfare--citizen against citizen. In our era, instead of division in classes and workers, they are using sex, gender and race. Same book, different cover.

Don't be distracted

 

The misnamed Inflation Reduction Act

It's no shock to me that this Inflation Reduction Act is the opposite of the words, but a tax grab--exactly the intention of the Democrats. It's the government that got us into this mess by throwing money at anything that moved from 2019-2022, and that includes the Trump years.

"Using the Tax Foundation’s General Equilibrium Model, we estimate that the Inflation Reduction Act would reduce long-run economic output by about 0.1 percent and eliminate about 30,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the United States. It would also reduce average after-tax incomes for taxpayers across every income quintile over the long run.

By reducing long-run economic growth, this bill may actually worsen inflation by constraining the productive capacity of the economy." https://taxfoundation.org/inflation-reduction-act/

Walking while old

 Can you hear me breathing hard?  We were in church (outside in the park) from 8:30-9:30 and then eating with friend at the Patio restaurant until about 10:15.  Then a walk home, change into cooler clothing, and out again for a short walk on Oak and Lynn before the day heats up.  I think it's supposed to be high 80s.  I'm using my smartphone to track, count and analyze my walking. Which means I have to keep it with me, either holding it or putting it in my pocket.  I rarely have made a phone call, but use it for listening and information. This message is from The Ridge Senior Living. I'm posting it for reference and inspiration for other days. How Many Steps Should a Senior Get in a Day? | The Ridge (theridgeseniorliving.com)

My smartphone says, "Step length is the distance between your front foot and back foot when you're walking.  The ability to take longer seps is related to your long term mobility.  Strength and coordination changes can affect your ability to take longer steps.  Step length will decline with age. Today, August 7 my step length is 28.7-33.5 inches

The smart phone also records "double support time." That's the percentage of time during a walk that both feet are on the ground. If you spend more of the walk with weight on one foot instead of two, there is better balance. The measure will fall between 20 to 40%. Today Sunday August 7 my Double support time is 25-28.4%, that's down from 27.8 - 31.6% on Wednesday, July 27. I hope that means my balance is better, although it doesn't feel like it.

The Relationship between Walking Speed and Step Length in Older Aged Patients - PubMed (nih.gov)

Impact of walking states, self-reported daily walking amount and age on the gait of older adults measured with a smart-phone app: a pilot study - PubMed (nih.gov)

15 Best Walking Apps for 2022 - Free Apps to Track Steps (prevention.com)

Walking Every Day

Walking is widely known to be one of the very best exercises for seniors. It’s low impact, low cost and low risk for injury. Plus, the benefits are many. Walking can: 

• Improve circulation, lower blood pressure and strengthen the heart muscle
• Burn calories and help manage body weight
• Ease joint pain and reduce lower back pain by strengthening core muscles
• Strengthen bones and help fight osteoporosis
• Improve balance and coordination, reducing the risk of falling
• Boost your immune system
• Improve your mood, reducing anxiety and depression
• Improve cognitive health

Environmental sustainability at Lakeside

According to one of our speakers this week at Lakeside, "Nearly half of the 300 million tons of plastics produced each year are only used a few short minutes before they are tossed away into our lakes, oceans and landfills to sit for hundreds of years."

Every person can see to it if they use plastic, it doesn't end up in the public spaces or water sources. I'm guessing 30 years of working with people to be aware of pollution was lost in the 2 years of the lockdown and forced masking. I've never seen as much trash in the environment as I've seen since March 2020. The cartons used for carry out must be uncountable. For awhile we couldn't even take reusable shopping bags into the stores. But the bigger problem is that those who are the richest among us, who have 2 or 3 homes, or drive electric cars or install solar panels on their houses--they are urging and voting for policies that really hurt those not so affluent in the name of saving something they don't know what.

 
Pick up after yourself and use less. Just like mom told you. Humans need water to live, but they survived for eons without carrying it in plastic bottles. And don't vote for people or policies that will destroy the pensions of retirees or agriculture in other countries.

The parental example

What life lessons did your parents teach you? We had a question like that in a group exercise at the women's club this week. I wrote a blog about this in 2007, and it's a good thing because by 2022 I would draw a blank.

Thirteen Little Things

When we are children we learn life time lessons from our parents, some by their words, others by actions. Today I'm jotting down 13 habits, techniques, behaviors, attitudes, etc. learned from my parents that are still with me, some without thinking about them, some throw aways, in no particular order. Chime in with a few of yours.

1. If you are with someone, always open the door and let your friend(s) walk through first.

2. Make a square, military corner on the bottom sheet (when I was a little girl there were no fitted sheets) to keep it from pulling loose. Stop to admire your effort. Although I don't do this now, the principle of doing something right the first time and taking pleasure in it is a good one.

3. Always wear an apron in the kitchen. Aprons certainly aren't what they used to be, and it seems to me food splashes more, so when I put one on, I often think of my dad who always reminded me, even as an adult.

4. Turn housework into a game (usually against the clock). My mother was big at trying to make "work" into "fun." This usually got an eye roll from me and a whine.

5. Respect others with your appearance. Both my parents would "fix up" for the other after their work day, and we always ate as a family with properly set table, pleasant conversation.

6. Clean up the kitchen after the meal; never leave dirty dishes on the counter or in the sink. I often fail with this one--maybe this would be a good New Year's resolution.

7. Start the week right with church attendance.

8. A gentleman always comes to the door to pick up a lady for a date. First timers meet the parents.

9. Sit like a lady (this was back in the days when girls and women usually wore skirts or dresses). Corollary: don't slouch.

10. The proper way to answer the phone. We often had to take orders for my dad, so this greeting I no longer use. However, I still keep paper and pencil by the phone, and I try not to mumble. I also overheard how dad spoke to his customers and even today I expect this from business people.

11. "A soft answer turns away wrath." This is my mother's from Proverbs 15:1. Never quite grasped this one, but it worked for my mother, who lived it and often quoted it. I can't remember her ever raising her voice (but she had a look in her eye that could stop you in your tracks).

12. The person who feeds the puppy is the one who will be loved by it. Usually this was Mom, because despite all our promises to care for it, she's the one who usually took pity on the poor thing. When I was growing up the dogs and cats lived outside. If it got bitterly cold, they could stay on the porch or in the basement.

13. In your lifetime you will probably have three really good friends. I'm still thinking about this one. Life has different stages--friendships vary--but the number seems pretty accurate.

Indian Princess and Campfire Day--memories

My cousin in South Carolina sends out a weekly spiritual message to her friends and relatives and often closes with a "day" event, like popcorn day, or fly a kite day etc. I always look forward to what she has to say. Today she reported is "Campfire Day," so I looked it up, and it seems early August is a good time to sit by a campfire with friends.

 
But it made me wonder what had become of Indian Princesses and Campfire Girls (an outgrowth of father-son recreation and moral guidance by the YWCA in the 1920s), which my daughter and I (and her dad) participated in during the 1970s. I had a lot of fun strolling down memory lane with that one, like how we got our *first cat (see photo), the nice mothers of Tremont School I met, and the scary overnights at a camp in southern Ohio (forgotten the name).

After an extensive 2 minute search I learned that anything with the word Indian in the title is racist/colonialist/demeaning to native Americans so organization has separated from the Y. There are locally run organizations because daddy-daughter activities are still enjoyed and earning badges for service is still considered useful in building character and strong women. There is a local unit for the younger girls in my own community called Two Rivers Council (2 rivers, the Scioto and the Olentangy meet in Columbus).

 
"Two Rivers Council is a group of dads and daughters that strengthens that strong family bond through structured but casual activities - time apart from work and school to focus on family. During our time together, dads and daughters learn outdoor traditions, discuss current events, help out in our community, and enjoy our time in the great outdoors.
Our group includes Upper Arlington girls between kindergarten and third grade. Most of the girls attend Barrington with a few from Tremont, St Agatha, Wellington, and Columbus School for Girls. "Senior Princesses" in grades 4 and 5 are most welcome too! We take our Longhouse name from the two rivers that flow through Columbus: the Olentangy and the Scioto. The sun rises on the Olentangy and sets over the Scioto.

 
The Y-Indian Princess Program (now called Adventure Princesses) was an outgrowth of the Indian Guides, a father-son program started in 1926. That program enabled fathers and sons to participate in a variety of activities that nurtured mutual understanding, love, and respect. The first Indian Princesses came together at the Fresno, California YMCA in 1954. Today, as then, our program affords an unusual opportunity for the concerned and busy father to foster growth in his daughter's development and an understanding of the world around her. The father's role helps her in developing self-esteem, confidence with her peers, and appreciation for the differences among people and families."  https://tworivers.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=9&club_id=837212

*This is not our first cat, Mystery, born in 1976, but she looked like this.   I can't seem to find any photos of her on my computer.  In those days we didn't take photos every few hours. She was coal black except for a few white hairs under her chin.   We named her Mystery because she was so tiny when our daughter brought her home from an Indian Princess overnight with her dad at Camp Akita, her eyes were blue and we didn't know her sex. She was sort of sickly and the mother and all the other kittens ran away, but Phoebe caught her. Somewhere I do have a photo of her and the children with a carved pumpkin, so it must have been near Halloween. She got well and lived for 18 years. 

Wednesday night Picnic

 On Wednesday evening we head for Perry Park, weather permitting, to eat a hot dog, macaroni salad, baked beans, watermelon and chips.  This is a happy time, with a lot of laughter.  We bring a long our chairs because there aren't enough picnic tables to hold the crowd. In the second photo are Bob and me and Pat and Bob with whom we were sitting, and then some photos of the volunteers who help with the food. It was extremely hot last night, but the breeze from the lake was wonderful. 

The big lie--the U.S. was founded on slavery

In a Q & A session this past week I heard a fellow Christian, a Lutheran, piously repeat one of the biggest lies of our era: that our country was founded on slavery--it's based on the 1619 New York Times misbegotten, misinformation, vanity award of several years ago. No respectable historian ever accepted it, but liberals eager for self-flagellation willingly drink those polluted waters. The wealthy middle class matrons seem to love the topic for their book clubs and tea.

"The 1619 Project is not history; it is ignorance. It claims that the American Revolution was staged to protect slavery, though it never once occurs to the Project to ask, in that case, why the British West Indies (which had a far larger and infinitely more malignant slave system than the 13 American colonies) never joined us in that revolution. It claims that the Constitution’s three-fifths clause was designed by the Founders as the keystone that would keep the slave states in power, though the 1619 Project seems not to have noticed that at the time of the Constitutional Convention, all of the states were slave states (save only Massachusetts), so that the three-fifths clause could not have been intended to confer such a mysterious power on slavery unless the Founders had come to the Convention equipped with crystal balls. It behaves as though the Civil War never happened, that the slaves somehow freed themselves, and that a white president never put weapons into the hands of black men and bid them kill rebels who had taken up arms in defense of bondage. The 1619 Project forgets, in other words, that there was an 1863 Project, and that its name was emancipation.

Finally: the 1619 Project is not history; it is evangelism."

So for Christians especially it is chasing false gods to worship. Sigh. Our country has many flaws--it is after all full of sinners like you and me in need of a Savior and was founded by sinners who wanted worldly rewards. How could it be perfect? But this 1619 drivel is beyond any conspiracy theory the right wing ever imagined. The ignorance, the self-satisfaction, the smugness--it's like trying to escape through a California wild fire with someone using up the oxygen that's left.

https://www.city-journal.org/1619-project-conspiracy-theory

The 1619 Project: Sloppy scholarship and distorted history under consideration for Washington schools » Publications » Washington Policy Center

Down the 1619 Project’s Memory Hole (quillette.com)

The 1619 Project: Believe Your Lying Eyes by Seth Forman | NAS

Yon and Peterson discuss Pandemic, Famine and War

Sri Lanka used to be a food exporter, had a thriving economy. The government decided they needed to go "green" to save the planet (i.e. grab more power and control) and now people are starving and rioting. Netherlands was the 2nd largest exporter of agricultural products even with a population of only 17 million--that tiny country not only fed itself, but others--now truckers and farmers are rioting because power hungry greenies are going berserk. They are trying to demonize the farmers--killing their golden goose and the impact will be starvation for other countries. Yon and Peterson discuss that war creates war, and famine creates famine, and well, we all know about that pandemic. Yet smart intelligent American Democrats support the climate change lie which is trying to destroy agriculture and transportation, not only in developing countries, but in wealthy, well-fed countries.

https://youtu.be/R7gAEkzIgvw YouTube discussion July 28, 2022

https://aboutthenetherlands.com/why-does-the-netherlands-export-so-much-food/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/21/emotion-and-pain-as-dutch-farmers-fight-back-against-huge-cuts-to-livestock

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/20/what-is-behind-largest-protests-in-panama-in-years-explainer?

https://www.dw.com/en/german-farmers-eye-poor-harvest-urge-freeing-up-fallow-land/a-62650482?

Here's a moving comment on the discussion by a Dutch citizen:

"As a Dutch man I must admit that all the praise and applause for our country brought tears to my eyes. So much I actually paused the video (especially the part at 1:02:19 ). We live in a time where every sense of pride or patriotism is considered a bad thing, so much, in fact, that when other people acknowledge the accomplishments of your nation it (apparently) brings up incredible strong emotions. The cliché mentality of a Dutch person is: stop whining and do your job. Our mothers creed is: "bad weather does not exist only bad clothing". We usually shrug our shoulders and carry on with our lives. This no- nonsense mentality is the strongest within the farmers community. They withstand the horrible Dutch weather with lots of rain and howling winds that blow over the flat lands to feed everybody. Literally. Not just their community, or their country.... no a large part of the world. They are the sort of people that, until a couple of years ago, were characterized as more or less "emotionless". Now their land, their family business, that was so carefully built over generations is taken away from them. It is a bloody shame. They truly are the canary in the coalmine. I stand with them for 100%."

Flowers at the cottage

 Although we've sold our cottage at Lakeside, this year the flowers have been doing beautifully.  So Bob took a photo, and because of the reflections in the porch window, we also have a photo of our neighbors.

Making churches relevant

 This is one more article about why mainline and evangelical churches are shrinking (i.e. dying, becoming irrelevant).  Unfortunately, the author after attempting to describe the problem--cultural suicide--suggests finding a new vision.  Huh?  Have they tried Jesus? This is an irrelevant article about why churches have become irrelevant.

The author is still quoting William Sloane Coffin.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/gloriouslife/2021/01/how-mainline-churches-closed-themselves/

Low fat or full fat? Silver Sneakers' advice

 https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/should-you-ditch-low-fat-foods-for-good/? 

 I try to eat the real thing when available. Real milk. Real butter. But I didn't for years. My mom was all about margarine and 2% milk. Salad greens need full fat dressing, if you want dressing. (Not everyone does.) All that low-fat stuff and no calorie drinks just make one eat/drink more because they aren't satisfying. Not impressed with that plant-based, highly processed substitute for meat, either. If you have an ethical problem with eating animals, that's one thing, but if you think plant burgers will save the planet, you're kidding your self.

Andrew Forrest, preacher of the week at Lakeside

Our pastor this week has been Andrew Forrest. Outstanding. He's beginning a new position in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving Dallas, TX, but made the move via Lakeside, Ohio. He was just the best, and left us all in tears Thursday morning. His theme for the week was the Prologue of the Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-11 (Creation to Babel).  It will be interesting to see if someone this good can remain in the United Methodist denomination.  It's a boiling pot ready to spill over.

About — Andrew Forrest

From Lakeside website:

"Lakeside Chautauqua welcomes Rev. Andrew Forrest as Preacher of the Week July 24-28. He will lead the 10:30 a.m. Chautauqua Community Worship Service on Sunday, July 24 in Hoover Auditorium. This week’s service will be live streamed. Visit lakesideohio.com/streaming to watch on the day of the service. This week’s preacher is supported by Dr. James & Betty Jane Young.

Forrest’s Sunday sermon is “Genesis: The Beginning of Wisdom,” and the scripture is Genesis 1:1-2:3. He will also lead Vespers by the Lake at the Steele Memorial Bandstand. Note: Vespers will take place Monday at 7:30 p.m. instead of Tuesday.

Forrest is a husband, father and pastor. Raised in West Africa and Virginia, he has an undergraduate degree from Columbia University in New York and a graduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. As a third generation Methodist minister, he was the pastor of Munger Place United Methodist Church in Dallas since it was planted in 2010 by nearby Highland Park United Methodist Church. After 12 years at Munger Place, Forrest became the Senior Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 1, 2022. His first Sunday at Asbury will be Aug. 7.

Forrest wants to engage culture, teach the Bible, and most importantly, make weekly worship the foundation of everything. He believes the purpose of a pastor is to prepare people to live faith-fully in the world. Forrest blogs at andrewforrest.org."

City Council to support abortion with our money

"Today, Ohio Right to Life released a statement in response to Columbus City Council’s recently approved ordinance no. 2215-2022. The ordinance was approved on July 25th, 2022, and is one of several ordinances which compose the city council’s larger initiative to protect so-called "reproductive healthcare" for pregnant women. Ordinance no. 2215-2022 authorizes a partnership with Pro-Choice Ohio to investigate the medical legitimacy of Crisis Pregnancy Centers. The ordinance states that this attack will be funded by $26,500 of taxpayer funds, taken from the Neighborhood Initiative subfund.

“I have personally worked with dozens of pregnancy centers across the state of Ohio during my years of pro-life work. The individuals who work at these pregnancy centers are some of the most kind, caring, competent, and loving individuals that you could encounter,” says Ohio Right to Life's Executive Director Peter Range. He continued, “I invite each city council member in the state of Ohio to visit with me their local pregnancy centers so they can see firsthand the amazing work they are doing for mothers, fathers, and babies in need.”

Ohio Right to Life's Director of Communications Elizabeth Whitmarsh strongly condemned the ordinance, stating “the targeting of pregnancy resource centers will put vulnerable women at risk and strip them of the resources they need on a day-to-day basis.” She went on to say, “the obvious truth here is that the anti-life activists do not care about women in need, and in fact, they are willing to put them at risk of survival if it means they can silence pro-life voices.” Peter Range shared similar sentiments: “The fact that these pregnancy centers are under attack is a clear illustration the left is not focused on women’s health, but just expanding abortion.” "

Too late for these memories?

 I received a notice (in a newsletter) from my alma mater (University of Illinois).

Calling all Former Library Student Employees
Did you work for the Library when you were a student at Illinois? We want to hear from you! Share a favorite memory, why you loved working for the Library, or how the Library helped shape your career path. You may be featured in an upcoming issue of the Library's award-winning Friendscript newsletter.

Fill out this short survey here.

I've been blogging for almost 20 years, (2003) but I can't recall I ever wrote down any memories of being a student employee in the 50s (as an undergrad) and 60s (graduate student) at the University of Illinois Library. 

Med students walk out at the University of Michigan

Medical students at the University of Michigan walked out of their White Coat Ceremony in protest Sunday after Dr. Kristin Collier, who wasn't speaking about abortion, was introduced; her views are known. She has referred to abortion as violence, and it is. She's referred to the unborn as her prenatal sisters, and they are. But let's look at the overprivileged, highly educated students who walked out. First they'd petitioned to stop her appearance, and when they didn't get their way, they stamped their big biased feet and walked out. They can't dare to have their minds warped by someone with a different view point--like the truth about life.

Is that how they will treat patients who want to carry to term but the doctor "knows best" and violates not just their oath, but human decency? Will they refuse to treat blacks or trans people if they don't like their politics? What about those disabled from military injuries if they (the doctors) didn't like the war?

 
I don't think these people are mature enough to have this level of responsibility, but really I don't know where they could go where it is acceptable to be open to views other than your own bubble. If this isn't happening at your local/state university, it's probably because no pro-life people have been hired or promoted.

University of Michigan students walk out on anti-abortion speaker Kristin Collier (nypost.com)

Medical students walk out over pro-life speaker: 'This is generally problematic for our culture' | Fox News

Symphony begins tonight

All of Lakeside looks forward to this.  In 2020, we only had small groups playing at the bandstand in the park, and 2021 had a very limited season.  Now this announcement:

"Under the direction of Music Director & Conductor Daniel Meyer, the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra (LSO) will open its 59th summer residency in Lakeside at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 26 in Hoover Auditorium.

The LSO, established in 1963, is a celebrated tradition at Lakeside and a key component of our arts programming. More than 80 musicians from across the country are members of the symphony, many of whom have devoted years of service to Lakeside.

This summer brings a series of LSO performances for all ages, seven to be exact, with extraordinarily talented guest artists and new opportunities for audiences to share the love of music and the symphony. There will also be an LSO Brass Quintet Family Concert on Thursday, Aug. 4 and four Pre-Concert Lectures on July 29, Aug. 2, 9 and 12."

 BIOGRAPHY | danielmeyerblack (danielmeyermusic.com)

Lakeside Chautauqua names Daniel Meyer new symphony conductor - cleveland.com

Vitamins for the eyes -- recommended

 Yesterday my ophthalmologist, Dr. Rogers, suggested I could benefit from vitamins to slow the progress of macular degeneration. The study is called AREDS 2, so I've looked through a few articles that explain it and which are free to download and print.

Abstract Is There an Optimal Combination of AREDS2 Antioxidants Zeaxanthin, Vitamin E and Vitamin C on Light-Induced Toxicity of Vitamin A Aldehyde to the Retina? - PubMed (nih.gov)

"Vitamins C and E and zeaxanthin are components of a supplement tested in a large clinical trial-Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2)-and it has been demonstrated that they can inhibit the progression of age-related macular degeneration. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal combinations of these antioxidants to prevent the phototoxicity mediated by vitamin A aldehyde (ATR), which can accumulate in photoreceptor outer segments (POS) upon exposure to light."

Abstract The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2): Study Design and Baseline Characteristics (AREDS2 Report Number 1) - PMC (nih.gov)

Purpose

The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) demonstrated beneficial effects of oral supplementation with antioxidant vitamins and minerals on the development of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in persons with at least intermediate AMD (bilateral large drusen with or without pigment changes). Observational data suggest that other oral nutrient supplements might further reduce the risk of progression to advanced AMD.

The primary purpose of Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lutein+zeaxanthin (L+Z) and/or omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) supplementation in reducing the risk of developing advanced AMD. The study will also assess the reduction in zinc and the omission of beta-carotene from original AREDS formulation.

We are all paying for transgender surgery through Medicaid

Medicaid represents $1 out of every $6 spent on health care in the US and is the major source of financing for states to provide coverage to meet the health and long-term needs of their low-income residents. The Medicaid program is jointly funded by states and the federal government. Now that states are succumbing to pressure from leftist ideology groups to obscure the truth known from the beginning of time by pagan tribes, rampaging warlords, Greek philosophers, Roman Caesars and thousands of years of the Judeo-Christian traditions with sacred texts (including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama), trans-intervention (called GAHT and GAS) will be covered by Medicaid.

“Gender-affirming surgeries are safe, effective, and medically necessary,” says the ACLU, but in fact they aren't any of those. Certainly not safe or effective when one considers the long term (untested) results of a life time of mental confusion and hormones foisted on people already with high suicide rates. But they want us to pay for their crimes in the medical, legal, non-profit (obviously very well funded) and entertainment fields. They want the government to pay for amputating non-diseased penises, testicles and breasts, and then they want all of us to not only pay for it, but to agree it's right, change our language and submit to being vilified if we speak the definition of a real woman.

Patrick W. Lappert, MD: "Self-identified transgender persons are a small but apparently growing population of persons who experience a severe dissonance between their sex (male or female) and their interior sense of themselves as men or women. It is a condition that is associated with a high rate of self-harming behavior, including alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual abuse, prostitution, and suicide. It is a condition that demands merciful care in every regard.

 
Care for transgender persons is presently being compromised by a distortion in our understanding of the human person. Whereas in times past the patient was seen as an intrinsic unity of body and spirit, today we are seeing large segments of the medical community tacitly accepting an understanding of the human person as a kind of spirit creature that may or may not be inhabiting the correct body." Are Man and Woman Interchangeable? – St. Paul Center (stpaulcenter.com)

I only mention Clinton and Obama because Bill admired women and knew the difference, and Obama was a great family man and even in his campaign said marriage was between a man and women until the swamp issued directives about rest rooms during his term, so we can date this official, tax paid insanity to about 2012, a little recent in the history of mankind's approval.

Georgia' Medicaid will Pay for Sex Change Operations for Trans Women (breitbart.com)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33422448/

Baby in womb surgery photo

Republican Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama briefly showed a photograph of a preborn child at a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, but Chairwoman Diana DeGette, D-CO, immediately gaveled him and demanded the picture be taken down. It was a photograph of a preborn child reaching out from his mother’s womb during a surgery, and clasping the doctor’s finger. The surgery was a success, and that child is now in his twenties."

It was not a photo of abortion, it was a photo of a live baby and life saving medical help, high tech, correcting spina bifida. I thought Democrats loved that. Science. But because it proves them wrong, this photo infuriates Democrats and pro-abortion forces.

The baby was anesthetized for the surgery, so technically he didn't grab the finger. Makes no difference. This is a living child.

https://cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/handshake-photo-taken-down-congressional-hearing

https://idoc.pub/documents/samuel-armas-sarah-switzer-in-utero-fetal-surgery-for-spina-bifida-dr-joseph-bruner-dr-noel-tulipan-vanderbilt-umc-born-twice-the-miracle-of-life-m34m0kygkml6

Prepare yourselves for Biden's Climate emergency

Prepare for the Climate Emergency--Biden could shut you down--take your fuel, your money, your future, and Democrats will fall for it. Even some Republicans are dumb enough to fall for it. All to save something 2 centuries from now, they don't know what, and destroy what we have today. People who can't figure out men don't have babies are telling you to be afraid of climate models.

I just did an internet search--something really simple about when Ohio was under a glacier and it melted. I had to go through about 100 entries of scare stories that had nothing to do with the subject to find this:

"When the earliest ice sheets penetrated Ohio they dramatically changed drainage patterns in the state. The Erigans River was destroyed and the Teays River was dammed in southern Ohio. A large, ice-dammed lake, Lake Tight, formed in the valleys of southern Ohio, and adjacent Kentucky and West Virginia. Eventually, the lake spilled over low divides and cut new channels. This was the beginning of the creation of the Ohio River. The deep valleys of the Teays River and its tributaries were filled with sediment as they were overridden by the glacier. In some places in western Ohio the buried valley of the Teays River is more than 400 feet deep but no hint of it is visible on the flat surface of the landscape.

The advance of the Illinoian glacier 300,000 years ago continued the modification of the Ohio landscape, eroding bedrock and older sediments and depositing sediment as it melted. This glacier advanced the farthest south of any of the glaciations in Ohio. Deeply weathered Illinoian deposits are present in southwestern Ohio and in a narrow band through east-central Ohio.

The most recent and best preserved glacial deposits are from the Wisconsinan glaciation. This glacier entered Ohio about 24,000 years ago and was gone from the state by 14,000 years ago." . . .

https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Ice_Age_Ohio

Biden labels climate change an ‘emergency,’ stopping short of declaration (msn.com)

Biden announces new climate change programs, no emergency declaration (cnbc.com)

What Would a Biden Climate Emergency Declaration Actually Do? (gizmodo.com)

Christians who voted for Biden

 If you are a Christian who voted for Biden, remember he doesn't use the words safeguard, protect, promote or support when it comes to children in the womb. He doesn't now and never has asked for swift and coordinated action at the border to keep drugs away from your children. When has he ever established an "interagency" gender policy to protect children from the misinformation and lies about their sexuality? Where is the EO for protection of crisis pregnancy centers now under attack by abortion terrorists?

FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services | The White House

The nightmare is not over

"The nightmare is over. In his masterful opinion for the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito consigned the constitutional right of abortion to the ash heap of history. Alito’s criticisms of Justice Harry Blackmun’s opinion in Roe v. Wade are deep and cutting — and entirely justified. Roe was, Alito wrote, “egregiously wrong from the start.” It was “on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided.” " National Catholic Register, June 24.

Most of this is true, and I agree, except the nightmare IS NOT OVER; it's just begun no matter where you are on the pro-life continuum. From conception to dementia and physical collapse in old age, people will need to be thinking through what they believe about God, natural rights, the Constitution, state laws, the minority opinions, investments in corporations supporting abortion for employees, medical and obstetric training for doctors and nurses in states that criminalize abortions, financial and emotional support for women who struggle with a decision, talking to neighbors, relatives and friends about touchy topics, what our children are taught about sex and biology in school and what will be preached and taught in our churches. Jesus' command to love our neighbors is being challenged by society at so many levels. Are we prepared?

In New York, there's nothing to stop an abortion/killing up to the moment of birth, and ground work is in place to allow infanticide for some years after birth. That's very different than Ohio's heartbeat law, or Mississippi's law which bans abortions based on the sex, race, or genetic abnormality of the fetus. And then there's all the issues about language with people being unable to identify a woman, or which words to use about "life" and your employer vested with the power to destroy your career if you can't subscribe to the thought control of management or the university administration.

The nightmare is not over.

Peter Noone, Herman's Hermits at Lakeside

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-ChNN8yso

We enjoyed Herman's Hermits--Peter Noone--and it was a great evening, Saturday June 16.  All the baby boomers in the audience at Hoover Auditorium were jamming.  Our neighbors (about 73-74) brought their 10 year old granddaughter, but she was playing games on her phone. It's happy music, with a lot of audience participation. Since this video is just a few months old, I think it represents him well.

Women on a bus in 1957

"On a recent trip to visit family, I found myself frequently travelling alone on public transportation. As a female, out of my usual surroundings, I always looked for the safest place to sit. Where might I be safe on this subway, in this train, on this bus? Is there anywhere safe anymore?

Over and again, I found myself seeking out the nearest mother with a child in a stroller in order to seat myself near them. Did that mother have a special forcefield around her? Why did I gravitate to the mother with the child as the safest haven? Because I realized that this mother had made a conscious decision to stand on the front lines." https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2022/07/16/we-are-the-front-lines/?

That's a quote from an article about how Christians are on the front lines in the culture wars. However, for me, I recall an exact incident like this in June 1957 that happened to me. My parents had taken me to the bus stop in Dixon, Illinois, to begin a very long trip by myself at 17 to Fresno, California for a summer term in Brethren Volunteer Service. I've written about it at this blog with photos. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/search/label/Fresno I certainly didn't have experience at 17 of traveling alone, but I looked for the first adult woman with children (she had 3) I spotted on the bus and sat with her. She couldn't have been more than 20 herself and had an Appalachian accent. I ended up being her babysitter half way across the country, sitting with the little girl and telling her stories while I combed her wispy hair, stories my mother had told me to keep me quiet about critters who snarl the hair of little girls. I think I also used my own money to buy her snacks because her mother didn't get off the bus when we took meal breaks. I felt safer, and the mother was certainly trusting, as I took the little daughter into the rest room, helped her with the toilet and cleaned her up while mommy tended to the boys (the children all had the strong odor of unwashed clothing and bodies).

Maybe it's instinct for women to seek each other for safety. With the culture wars of today, who can you trust?

Losing our Linden (Basswood or Tilia Americana)

The linden, in the fervors of July,
Hums with a louder concert. When the wind
Sweeps the broad forest in its summer prime,
As when some master-hand exulting sweeps
The keys of some great organ, ye give forth
The music of the woodland depths, a hymn
Of gladness and of thanks.

William Cullen Bryant

It has been providing shade here for 90 to 100 years, our neighbor Bill Dudrow says.  About 20 years ago a large section fell on the deck, but after having it trimmed (actually major surgery) we were told it was healthy although somewhat deformed.  Then this summer we noticed a large area of decay developing.  The tree  man came out yesterday and told us the old damaged trunk was splitting and that was the cause of the decay at the bottom.  It will have to come down.  Sigh.

  

The Linden range extends from New Brunswick south to Georgia, and west to Nebraska and Texas.  It is a soft wood, and I hear it's good for carving and cabinets. It has heart shaped leaves and early in the summer develops clusters of blossom-buds in greenish-yellow, which bees love, and the deck requires constant sweeping.

Information from "Our Trees: How to know them" by Arthur I. Emerson. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 5th ed., 1936.  

Christmas list suggestion

 Retired Librarian The Woman The Myth The Legend – Awesome Librarians

Nap study mentioned by John Ed Mathison, Got a Minute

 Association of napping with incident cardiovascular events in a prospective cohort study - PubMed (nih.gov)

This study was mentioned in John Ed Mathison's "Got a Minute," 325 daily meditations. He's a retired Methodist pastor who was at Lakeside in 2021, and I attended his morning sermons. I bought this little book and have been using it for the opening meditations at the Lakeside Women's Club which meets at 1:30 on Tuesday.  I try to pick something that's appropriate for the day's program.  Any program about Lakeside would good for a study on napping.  I see a lot of it-- on the hotel porch, on park benches, on towels in the sun and I have a nap almost every day.  

John Ed says on p. 326, "a brief nap is healthy in releasing stress.  The Bible teaches about stress, anxiety, and good health.  I challenge you to put a 5 minute nap together with a reflection on what the Bible teaches.  It might be off the chart how much healthier you could be!"

John Ed usually doesn't give complete citations--after all, these meditations are on phone apps or radio announcements, and I like to think they are reaching people that churches don't, or someone who maybe has a church family but needs a little boost.  That's what librarians are for--we are finders so you can be keepers. That's why I give you the link to the research. And a copy of a painting I did years ago of a napper on the porch of Hotel Lakeside.

More from the archives--love stories

 I used to write short, short love stories about people in the coffee shop. Reread a few today.  It was fun.  I stopped going out for coffee in 2015.  Saved a lot of money.

Collecting My Thoughts: Love stories from my coffee blog

I never intended to be a writer, but have been doing it since I was a child. In college I "majored" in other things, although nothing that pays well, like library science. In a blog in 2008 I was writing about two of my favorite topics--food and money.

"In the early 1980s I was writing about food budgets, coupons, sweepstakes, and other ways to play with your food, just as I do today in my blog, but using an electric typewriter, a bottle of white-out, research in the OSU Agriculture Library, and a photocopy machine to issue my own newsletter, "No Free Lunch." I was interviewed on a local TV talk show, spoke to women's book clubs, a faculty lunch group at OSU, and I was featured in the local suburban newspaper. However, because my theme was in some ways anti-business and chiding the consumer for poor planning, I was not in great demand as a speaker or writer. You can't tell business that their methods are suspect and consumers that they are not behaving rationally and expect to be popular!

I was just as opinionated then as a liberal Democrat as I am today as a conservative Republican. I wrote a lot about how government and food conglomerates worked together to confuse or hurt the consumer and put the local food companies at a disadvantage (and I hadn't heard of a Wal-Mart). I was really hard on "food writers" in the magazines who always encouraged coupons and prepared foods. Actually, I still feel that way, but now wonder why Democrats continue to lull voters into thinking even more government control of their lives and wallets is beneficial. And I see how increased regulation of business hurts the little guy, and especially the poor."

Based on Biden's fuel policies, we'll probably be lucky to have food on the shelves to buy, but if you're concerned about inflation, you can still save a bundle by contributing your own labor, just as I wrote in 1981. These days, you'd also save a lot by discontinuing take-outs or eating out with your family. Even for us as a couple eliminating our Friday night date as we did during the Covid lockdowns saved us about $200 a month.

 
That said, if I thought my kids needed baked snacks (they were deprived and got raw sliced veggies and fruits) that weren't full of chemicals, sugar and salt, I'd keep an eye on this lady. Food Babe. She's very pretty and Hawaiian.  Homemade Goldfish Crackers With Organic Ingredients (foodbabe.com)  She must be OK because there are other web sites set up to attack her.

St. Ignatius of Loyola -- Pray as you go

https://pray-as-you-go.org/player/2022-07-14

Open any website or book or scripture for the Christian, and you'll find something about poverty, environment, sex discrimination, wealth gap and race.  Since that's also the constant drum beat of the secular media, academic research and pagans, it falls flat--it is so mundane and nagging. Our sins most flagrant yet important to address according to Jesus are those closest, like members of our family or church or workplace. It's the commandment from both the Old and New Testaments--love neighbor as self. That said, there are so many sources to remind us of the horizontal dimensions of the cross. This link is to Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises.  He lived in the 16th century and developed a plan to help focus on the gospel. Others carry on his work. This is just one of the first I came across in an internet search. 

"Pray as you can, not as you can't." Additional links at this site on the left of your screen, some with soothing music and voices. Some with "examen" prayer opportunities for beginning of day, end of day, end of week, 

And if you carry a phone with you (I don't, but tried it after downloading the app), there's a link for walking with meditation. https://pray-as-you-go.org/series/20-walking-with-god   with either male or female voice. About 40 minutes.  I haven't tried this--I'd be so distracted by a squirrel or fairy garden or piece of trash carelessly thrown from a passing car. I used the original meditation noted at the beginning here, rather than the walking one.

Ignatius on gratitude

Is there a distinctly Ignatian understanding of gratitude?

In the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola, gratitude is not just beneficial to us, it is the only logical response to the grace of God.

There is a logic of gratitude that grows through the Exercises, a dynamic of grace building upon grace. Ignatius does not begin the Exercises with his great call to trait gratitude, the Contemplation to Attain Love – he ends with it. First, we need to see clearly and in true perspective. We begin by seeing ourselves in the context of creation, of the Fall, and of the decision by the Trinity to enter into our ensnared world and set it free. We then walk with Jesus step by step, through birth, life, agony, death and resurrection. The daily drip-feeding of state gratitude with the Examen culminates in the trait gratitude of the Contemplation to Attain Love. So gratitude is the fruit of all that we have experienced. We do not create it; it is brought to birth through our encounter with Jesus. We also do not force it. Ignatius urges us throughout the Exercises to be honest about our desires and our responses. He notes that we do not always desire the best, and that sometimes we need to pray for the desire for the desire. Tell the truth, and then pray for the grace you need: this is the process. Gratitude is perspective. When I see myself contextualised in the whole of salvation history, my response will be ‘the cry of wonder’. There is a natural welling-up of gratitude and love, which is intended to last, to make us people of gratitude at a deeper level.

For all Christians, there is a distinctive quality to their gratitude: belief in God as the giver. In a secular worldview, gratitude may be a response to a series of gifts from random ‘others’. For Christians, our lens is our ongoing relationship with God, the architect of salvation. Our root gratitude is to the One who has given, who gives now, and who can be utterly trusted to keep on giving. As Michael Ivens SJ explains, ‘Gratitude for the past… leads to trust for the future.’[14] Ignatius structures the Contemplation to Attain Love to reflect this past, present and future engagement with grace in my life and in the whole world, coming personally and intentionally from God.

There is broad agreement that gratitude is good for you, and that it’s linked to happiness. But where the science of gratitude seeks to understand gratitude, Ignatius wants us to orient ourselves through it. Where positive psychology notes that ‘gratitude has good outcomes’, for Ignatius it is much stronger than that: more like, ‘if you see God’s world and your life as they really are, gratitude will well up in you’. All agree that ‘if you want to be happy, be grateful’, but for Ignatius it’s fundamental: gratitude is the only disposition that makes sense.

https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/how-be-grateful#_edn22

Ignatius and Gratitude • Loyola Spirituality Center

Fauci has reappeared

For a long time I didn't know anyone who had Covid. Then as more lockdowns, more masking, more vaccines and more boosters just about everyone I know has had it or now has it. Most recently, 2 women in my Bible study group--and we meet on Zoom! And almost all of them did everything they were told to do by the Biden administration and their state governments (our governor nagged us for 2 years). Have you had that experience? And now Fauci's back on the news again. Hasn't he had it at least twice? Must be time for the mid-terms?

Money can't fix everything

We sold our home of 34 years in 2001 and the new owners installed a professional kitchen, spending ca. $50,000 ($80,000 in today's dollars), and then got a divorce. The three signs of a marriage in trouble are 1) a new sports car for the husband, 2) an expensive get-away vacation, and/or 3) a ridiculous remodeling project for the wife. Or, maybe money just doesn't fix what's wrong.

They never learn

 Countries that have tried (by force or election) socialism, have failed.

Countries that have tried (by force or persuasion) Green Energy have failed.  

Biden promised, and will we become Sri Lanka, Ghana, the Netherlands or France?  He's pushing the USA into third world territory, and he's lying about the shortages.  9,000 permits means nothing if you've blocked every avenue to produce it. We could be producing enough fuel and food for the whole world, but Biden and his Green-goes are ghouls.

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa Promises Resignation After Protestors Stormed Capital | 

Will ESG Reform Capitalism—or Destroy It? - Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

How Business Insider and other dishonest left-wing media outlets desperately LIED to cover up the embarrassing truth about AOC’s “Green New Deal” fiasco (climate.news)

‘This is life and death’: AOC re-introduces Green New Deal with Ed Markey (yahoo.com)

How have we let this bartender who does make up videos control the future of the country?

The other Biden Bloopers

With compliments like these, who needs insults? Jill Biden described Latino diversity “as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.” And she mispronounced bodegas according to the gossip I heard. Oh my.

Tuesday is Farmer's Market at Lakeside.

Drove our golf cart to the Farmer's Market this morning. It used to be just 2 blocks from our house on the "main street," but moved to the old school house a few years ago, about a mile away. I bought a rhubarb pie, some buckeye candy (on sale because the cooks had Covid and lost their sense of taste so couldn't guarantee the quality), a bag of homemade breakfast cookies, a pound of peaches, a half pound of green beans, one ear of corn (Bob hates corn), a bunch of beets with the greens, 2 bananas, and some strawberry jam; now I'm anticipating a great lunch. Every thing was much higher than I expected, but we have to pay for Biden's war on fossil fuel and common sense.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

 https://youtu.be/KVd1AxViLY4

Battle Hymn of the Republic by Orsen Welles

The 10 year old rape victim who had to go to Indiana to get an abortion

Looks like this is going to turn out to be bogus. Ohio has no 6 week law--it's a heart beat law; no rape was ever reported in any district; the abortion doctor in Indiana is required by law to report it for investigation; Ohio has no such report; the Indiana doctor is also an abortion activist who likes to be on TV; Ohio AG is investigating her story.

I think the pro-aborts will have egg all over their faces and the President on down to all the media who reported it will look foolish for doing no investigation of a child rape report and accepting one abortionist's report.

This is a terrible crime if it happened, and someone needs to be in jail. Let's hope the investigation turns up no child and no crime--and the media were again engaging in misinformation for political gain. And I hope there is punishment for the abortionist if she made up this story for her own fame.

Biden-cited story of 10-year-old Ohio rape victim needing abortion still not verified by fact-checkers | Fox News

Biden faces doubt over story of 10-year-old rape victim (nypost.com)

10-year-old rape victim forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion | Ohio | The Guardian

'She's 10': Child Rape Victim's Abortion Denial Sparks Outrage on Twitter (msn.com)

Update July 13, 2022: "COLUMBUS, Ohio— Today, Ohio Right to Life released a statement in response to the arrest of the alleged rapist in the case of the ten-year-old victim in Ohio. According to court records, Columbus police were notified of the victim’s abuse and pregnancy on June 22nd through a referral from Franklin County Children Services. The perpetrator was officially charged with first degree rape after making a confession. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner has set bail at two million dollars and he is being held in the Franklin County jail."

 
The news release was dated June 29, the police notified June 22. Ohio Right to Life notice dated July 13. No information on date of rape. Somewhere I read the Indiana abortionist was reprimanded for HIPAA violation telling the Indianapolis Star about a patient.

Tearing Us Apart by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis

New book on abortion. I probably won't read it, but it does present a moral argument and history for the mess we're in. For those who haven't made up their minds, and those who need to clarify their points when encountering (arguing?) with the pro-abortion group: "Abortion harms everything and solves nothing."

We love killing babies--from summer of rage protestors

I was shocked to see on Facebook a woman I'd just taken communion from the week before write "abort the Supreme Court" on her page. She'd also been in DC 5 years ago wearing a pink hat to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017 (before he's had a day in office) to cheer on that riot (which caused more damage than J-6). Although I'm sure she didn't mean kill them, that's how many in her camp will read it, and some are launching racist and violent attacks on our Supreme Court against Thomas and Kavanaugh. Will there be hearings? Of course not. Democrats are in charge. A retired 3 star general has been suspended by the Army for making a sarcastic remark about Jill Biden's abortion views. Now THAT's totalitarianism. These same duplicitous gangs who march for killing are rejoicing in the fake hearings on J-6 so they can breathe some more life into their hate Trump campaigns for media ratings. It makes me wonder what anger and hate bubble up and infect her other wise pleasant demeanor and smile on Sunday morning. Her rights and mine come from God and not the state.

'We Love Killing Babies': What I Saw at Women's March Protest (dailysignal.com)