Our proxy war

We are protecting Ukraine's borders from foreign invaders. It's called a proxy war. Billions of dollars. But we can't (or won't) protect our own borders. Not smart! Many walls could have been built (Congress voted for it in 2006), many border guards could have been trained, many drug cartels and human trafficking war lords could have been blocked for just a fraction of what we've sent to Ukraine. And even then, we were late to the party and ineffective on their border war too! This has leftist doctrine written all over it. Destroy your own country and culture while pretending to help another country and culture. Our enemy is on the inside--in the DC swamp, in academe, in the entertainment industry, in our "free" press, and in our wealthiest and most essential corporations.

Merrick Garland is dangerous--he hates the Constitution

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has taken a law hastily passed over 20 years ago after 9/11 to stop foreign terrorists (Patriot act) and is using it against parents concerned about the health and education of their children. He is arresting, with Joe Biden's approval and lip smacking grin, people protesting killing the unborn, i.e., American citizens using their constitutional rights under the first amendment. He's using government surveillance illegally to stop journalists who report the truth about use of fetal body parts distributed after abortions. It would seem that Garland does not have the best interests of the USA in mind because he has something against the children of our future.

At the same time, Democrats (and a few Republicans like Cheney) in Congress and in the Media are calling Americans "Nazis" and "Terrorists" for using their First Amendment rights, which is the exact opposite of what they charge. They get hysterical when citizens object to green taxes and coercion. They prove to be thickheaded simpletons who don't know world history of the 1930s and 40s or why American blood was shed in WWII. They demean and insult the millions who died under that regime. National Socialism (aka Nazi) is just one of the many offspring and grandchildren of Marx, Nietzsche, and more recently Foucault that have morphed into BLM and CRT. It's alive and well in our leftist politicians. That doesn't describe our patriots and citizens who want children to live and thrive in freedom.

And although I'm so thankful Garland didn't get his chance at SCOTUS having been blocked by Republicans when Obama nominated him, I do think he's trying to punish half the nation for that 2016 "insult." He was unfit then, and a disaster now.

Christian Martyrs in Nigeria

The slaughter of Christians in Nigeria was a concern of President Trump, so Biden and Blinken had them removed from the watch list! Apparently, didn't think it was a problem or, they want to tamp down the many good things for religious freedom done by Trump. There are now more documented cases of Christian martyrdom in Nigeria than every other country combined according to Revelation Media. Our current State Department is concerned about anti-Muslim hate crimes--but not they people they are killing.

"At the beginning of his administration, Biden called on the State Department to monitor vigilantly countries that do not embrace “transgender rights” and authorized diplomats to meddle in their affairs. A country that upholds the natural moral law is more likely to end up on a State Department blacklist than a country that violates it. To hear Biden and Blinken speak, one would think Christians pose the greatest threat to “global progress.” Biden’s rhetoric about Islamic countries is always very hesitant, but it turns very robust on the subject of “Christian nationalists” like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán."

According to Gallup poll in Dec. 2021, about three in four Americans said they identify with a specific religious faith. By far the largest proportion, 69%, identify with a Christian religion, including 35% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 12% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a "Christian." " And yet both Obama and Biden refuse to call this a Christian nation. Not everything is defined in the Constitution, like what is a woman, and what is a marriage, but sometimes politicians have no common sense about what is common knowledge.

https://spectator.org/christians-warned-biden-and-blinken-about-nigeria/?

Fulani Terrorists Kill More than 70 Christians in Central Nigeria | Christian News Network

Power to Help - Morningstar News

Christians killed in Nigeria (theallineed.com)

Nigerian Christians Protest Deborah’s Death...... | News & Reporting | Christianity Today

Raphael and the Salvation Army Band

Last Sunday, October 16, after church we went to the Columbus Museum of Art with our friends Howard and Betty to see "Raphael--The Power of Renaissance Images: The Dresden Tapestries and their Impact." Then at the end of the week, we went to a concert at our Mill Run church of the Brass Band of Columbus and the New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army. The Creation piece was multimedia and just breath taking.  A week of glorious fall color book-ended with beauty. I would see the exhibit and attend the concert over again in a minute. The tapestry exhibit ends October 30.

 "The exhibition is centered around six tapestries, woven in the 17th century, on loan from the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery of Dresden), Germany, one of Europe’s most renowned museums. 

Working in partnership with the Old Masters Picture Gallery (part of the Dresden State Art Collections) located in Columbus’s sister-city of Dresden, CMA will present for the first time to American audiences these monumental and historically significant works, woven directly from cartoons (painted compositions) by the Renaissance master Raphael. The Dresden tapestries underwent extensive restoration in the 1990s but had not been on display since 2008. Following their début in an exhibition for European audiences at the Dresden Picture Gallery last year, this will be the tapestries’ first ever trip to the United States. The exhibition focuses on the creation of the Dresden tapestries and introduces their various patrons and owners through the centuries—in particular, Charles I, King of England, and Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland—while also highlighting Raphael’s broad impact and influence on later artists."

https://youtu.be/BPkHTwCdU9w

Raphael and Painting: 7 The Sistine Tapestries – The Eclectic Light Company

The Patron Pope: Julius II – The Eclectic Light Company

Raphael and Painting: 4 First frescoes in Rome – The Eclectic Light Company

New York Staff Band - YouTube

BrassBandofColumbus - YouTube

The religion of the Left

 The Party's faith in Sustainability, a poem

(by Norma Bruce, based on an idea in How Sustainability is Becoming the One True Corporate Religion by Ellen Weinreb, Dec. 20, 2011)

Their Religion, the One True, is Sustainability 
Their Cult is Climate Change
Their Cathedrals are on every college campus
Their Priests are staffing corporate H.R. departments 

Their Sacrament is Abortion

Their Baptism is a sprinkle of mRNA

Their creed is a CRT screed

Their church fathers are Marx, Nietzsche, Sarte, Marcuse, and Foucault.

Their testimonies speak lived experience of oppression

Their scripture contains no objective truth

Their Revivals are George Floyd riots
Their Galileo's trial is a January 6 Committee 

Their boards deny Corpernicus a seat
Their choir directors creates castrati 

Their missionaries translate language into chaos

Their pulpits are filled with media CEOs and intersectional academics.

Bill Gates, a capitalist who can control the world

Russian fuel for Europe is a problem, yes, but wouldn't be if the U.S. were at full production and didn't have Joe Biden and Bill Gates in charge. He's announced that yes, it's a setback for those who will suffer in the present, but in the long run, those countries will have to accept alternative fuels (which he'll also control) so it's actually good in his demented brain and value system. Think about this. Gates is also the largest "farmer" in the U.S. He has the power to both freeze and starve most of the world. Yes, one man, a very successful capitalist by the way (and when government and business moguls collude to deprive us of rights it's called fascism, not that flimsy definition the Dims wring their hands over of wearing a MAGA hat). His one world/globalist views also include decreasing the offspring of brown and black families through "family planning." And here I am using his company's technology. Ironic, huh?

https://summit.news/2022/10/19/video-bill-gates-says-european-energy-crisis-is-good/?

https://deepstatetribunal.com/bill-gates-now-the-largest-owner-of-farmland-in-america/?

The Ross Rant, Joel Ross

10/21/22:  The US economy was doing very well when Trump left office. We were energy independent, the stock market was still high, home prices were high, inflation was 1.4%, and consumers had a lot of money, and credit card use was very low. The Federal deficit was too high, but not completely out of control and unsustainable. We were still in Afghanistan holding off the terrorists and Taliban in most of the country, and the Iranians were struggling under serious sanctions. Russia was not threatening Ukraine and China was not obviously threatening Taiwan. Kim was quiescent. The US was still way ahead of the rest of the world in reducing carbon emissions and switching to gas and alternatives. In short, things in the world were OK as the pandemic was getting under control. Then Joe arrived with his band of social radicals and climate change crazies pulling the strings of the puppet. The decline of the US, and now the world, in under two years is a perfect example of how left-wing policies, and ESG, can destroy the world economy and peace in no time. How anyone can embarrass themselves and vote for Dems this election is beyond me. What is it they do not understand. The R’s will control the senate by 2-4 seats, and more governors. The wave is building again. The September inflation report was a killer for Dems. Bezos, Dimon, Bloomberg, Zandi, Interactive Brokers, and Summers all now say, the economy goes down more from here. Mortgage demand at 25 years low. The worst is yet to come. Get under the desk.

The 2020 election with Joe in the basement

I wonder how many Democrats would have voted for Joe if he'd campaigned on open borders, rising crime rates, a new war with Russia, higher taxes, destruction of the First Amendment, expanding the pandemic, destruction of our economy, raging inflation, a congressional investigation that exceeds the power of House Un-American Activities Commitee (HUAC) for disloyalty and subversive activities, shutting down desperately needed fuel for the rest of the world and killing the unborn up to full term?

I suppose that's why he stayed in the basement and didn't campaign in 2020. Although I did hear him say on one appearance he was running for the Senate. And another time he called a young woman a lying dog-faced pony soldier, and he sniffed a few little girls, so maybe he did say these things and loyal Democrats didn't care? I know a few, and they seem like normal, thinking, moral people . . . did they know, or did they hate Trump so much they voted for their hate?

Michigan governor silent about a white, elderly woman shot

An 84 year old woman has been shot in Michigan for being a "right wing nut," but Michigan's governor is only silent. But she's certain vocal about being a wing nut for abortion, saying "“Now is the time to use every tool in our toolbox to protect women and reproductive healthcare,” she tweeted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, adding on another occasion, “Abortion is still legal in Michigan, and I’ll never stop fighting to keep it that way.” No wonder Richard Harvey who shot Joan Jacobson thought he'd help the governor out with her "tool box." That type of inflammatory language gets Republicans put in jail even if they weren't anywhere near a dust up or riot. Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Ms. VP Harris, Speaker Pelosi, California's Mad Maxine Waters and other Democrat high profile women spew political hate speech--not just hate for the unborn, but hate for those who are pro-life, pro-patriotism, pro-law and order, pro-border, pro-Trump, pro-sensible treatment for a pandemic, pro-fossil fuel, etc. 

Judge: Man Who Shot Elderly Pro-Life Woman Will Go To Trial (dailysignal.com)

What is your Red Sea?

Our Sunday sermon series has been on the Covenants of the Bible, and this past Sunday Pastor Steve Turnbull preached on the story of God's faithfulness to Moses, Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29. Then on Tuesday evening via Zoom our small group (Edie, Kevin, Jane, Dave, Donna, Howard, Betty and us) met on-line to discuss it. Edie who lives in Florida asked for a copy of a poem I read that was in the Cynthia Maus book, "The Old Testament and the Fine Arts." I was about to send a photocopy, but checked the internet. Annie Johnson Flint was a popular writer of Christian verse and hymns (born in NJ, d. 1932) and had many challenges. She was orphaned young and from a photo it appears she was in a wheel chair (arthritis). Her poem does sound a lot like Pastor Steve's sermon about our own Red Sea struggles. Scroll through the link and you'll read some touching thought. https://www.preceptaustin.org/annies_poems  Bob also liked it and shared with his men's group Wednesday, also on Zoom.

The Red Sea Place

Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?
Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the wind, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, "Go on."

And His hand will lead you through - clear through -
Ere the watery walls roll down,
No foe can reach you, no wave can touch,
No mightiest sea can drown;
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their bed you shall walk dry shod
In the path that your Lord will make.

In the morning watch, 'neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you on from the place of the sea
To a land that you have not known;
And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall be no more afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,
A place that His hand has made.

Diversity Equity Inclusion in higher education

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education involve a range of objectionable elements, such as giving preferential treatment to job candidates from particular race and gender groups and generating a massive administrative staff that encroaches on faculty autonomy and attempts to structure and surveil even informal campus interactions." City Journal, Oct. 18, 2022  DEI Statements: Empty Platitude, or Litmus Test? | City Journal (city-journal.org)

Diversity means division.
Equity is inequality
Inclusion is exclusion.

D.E.I. departments are establishing tribalism in our country not based on kinship or blood ties, but on color and sex. Look how tribalism is working out in Africa. There are major civil wars in two African countries, Ethiopia and South Sudan, both with majority Christian populations and most people killing each other are the same race (just like Europe for many centuries). There are 83 tribes in Ethiopia and over 60 in South Sudan. If you are a member of a small tribe, you'll never get ahead unless a relative comes into power, then it's easy street.

And further, the acronym should be D.I.E. because that is the wish of the bureaucrats in the universities who have sent their graduates out to poison corporations which now also have DIE departments.

Tulsi Gabbard Show

Tulsi Gabbard has left the Democrat party. But she's not a conservative and is not joining the Republicans. However, I've added her to my podcast list. 1) She talks about things both parties refuse to comment on, and 2) She has a beautiful voice, easy to listen to. So many women have voices that just set my teeth on edge regardless of what they have to say.

Today she's discussing the nuclear threat with our proxy war with Russia.  We've got a demented puppet in the White House and Russia has a crazy man in their house of power (is it still the Kremlin?). She's had recordings of both Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.  She says both parties are war-mongers.

Here's another one talking about the nuclear danger, Paul Kengor. Averting Nuclear Armageddon—in October 1962 and Today (faithandfreedom.com)

"It is ironic and scary that 60 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the world’s two superpowers to the brink of nuclear Armageddon, President Joe Biden warned of possible nuclear “Armageddon” this October 2022, and once again with Russia.

Biden has been harshly criticized for that language, accused of hyping an already grave situation between Putin and the Ukraine and of fanning the flames with unnecessarily incendiary rhetoric. Personally, I think Biden’s warnings are apt. I’ve been stating for months that the potential for a desperate Vladimir Putin to escalate to the level of using nuclear weapons is frighteningly real. A Putin whose army is defeated on the battlefield is an especially dangerous Putin who may well resort to something catastrophic, as we feared in October 1962."

This is followed by a review of the 1962 Cuban situation, since most have forgotten.

Submit or get fired

"Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action." Ian Fleming, Goldfinger

Whether you're a lawyer, doctor, rap artist, biologist, athlete, journalist, farmer, teacher or librarian, someone in your profession who believes the historical, moral and ethical standards of the past has tried to speak out or report to the chain of command or get published about a current medical procedure, now in its 4th iteration.

 
They are not the majority; they may be a very small voice. But they are in ALL professions, all of which have codes and standards about truth, service and integrity. That they are everywhere should tell you something. They've been verbally abused, had promotions denied, and lost friends and colleagues; their editors have reassigned them to the back page or their location to Po-dunk; they can't get published or their research doesn't appear in peer reviewed journals; they are dishonorably discharged, or lost access to Twitter, FB, YouTube or Google; they've requested reassignment to different medical rounds and been denied. They may also be the ones who won't change pronouns, who resist the CRT workshops and roll their eyes at more global demands to believe a new green religion.

If your employer fires or muffles those in your profession who refuse, and keep only those who bend the knee and submit, then what have you got? People who won't take risks, who won't ask questions, who won't point out the Emperor has no clothes. A submissive nation. No one needs to fire a shot to conquer that nation. We're already in chains.

This is from the University of Nebraska Medical Center: "The spike protein is unique to SARS-CoV-2 – it doesn't look like other proteins your body makes. So antibodies created against the spike protein won't harm your body, they will only target coronavirus."

Let's take a careful look at this statement, which can't be proven true or false since it hasn't been around long enough to be tested. mRNA was developed in the 90s; this therapy in 2020. Whether you're a Christian like me and believe that God has created us with what we need to treat or stop diseases (mRNA isn't a vaccine which introduces a small amount of the bacteria or virus to assist your body in developing a defense you already have) or you're another religion or not religious at all and believe you've evolved over a billion years from sludge, you know "it doesn't look like other proteins your body makes" sounds like it doesn't belong there. Your civil liberties shouldn't be violated and the first amendment and all our laws dealing with health and treatments shouldn't be tossed out if you object to this treatment.

Just about everything we were told in Spring 2020 about transmission and protection of the mRNA treatment have been proven false but there are still rules and mandates and people continue to be punished. Facts we already knew in 2020--children were at almost no risk and young adults had low risk--have been tossed out the window with no apology or explanation.

Now that we know, what should be done

Sometimes we can't know what we don't know. What happened from March 2020 through today (when I saw people still wearing masks inside their cars with several dirty masks on the dash) would have been unimaginable in western, democratic, free countries as recently as December 2019, but did happen. 

• The vulnerable and most at risk for the disease weren't protected
• Those not at risk were forced to comply as though they were in danger of dying
• There were mass violations of civil liberties
• Unknown risks have been passed on to the next generation because pregnant and lactating women were included in the madness
• Young men in the prime of life have been forced through peer pressure, government edict, and threats of job loss to take heart risks with odds they would never consent to for a plane flight
• Laws involving elections were violated or made up on the spot
• Minor, unelected officials assumed great authority and power 
• Small businesses were ruined; massive businesses got wealthier
• People skipped treatment for cancer and heart because government was protecting hospitals and not patients
• Safe alternative treatment options were forbidden--even their names could not be spoken
• Anxiety and mental health issues soared from both lack of care and the sufferers being terrified and sickened by media
• Lockdowns separated the dying from their families, their last comfort, or contributed to their early death
• Even when it was learned that the jabs didn't prevent getting the disease and didn't stop transmission to others, ridiculous rules stayed in place, controlled by teachers' unions, businesses, the White House, and CDC
• "Trust the science" became a joke and punch line with our elected officials bowing to the power and money, not laws or common sense or honoring the people who elected them
• One unelected man, an aging bureaucrat controlling two presidents and billions in grants to pharmaceutical companies, claimed to be the face of "Science" and if we distrusted him, we were traitors 
• There should be town halls in every village, town, city, church, business, club and university to sort this out. Maybe financial reparations will never happen, but we deserve an explanation for the cowardliness of our so-called leaders who needed to step up and STOP THE INSANITY. 
• For the friends and family who died, for the grandparents who didn't see their grandchildren for 2 years, for the jobs lost, the friendships destroyed, the trust stomped on we need to make sure it never happens again.

Time, ambition or will

 Although I often say I'm rarely busy, I do have a dilemma right now because I can't get done what I'm planning in my head. It's taking up a lot of space there between my ears and probably melting brain cells--particularly during my morning quiet time when I could be reading the Bible, reading something for book club, or researching.  I know the time is available--it would take about two-three days of intense research, writing or using the telephone (I hate that). Other than going to doctors' appointments, shopping for groceries and exercising at the gym (which is only about 2 miles away) I really am not a busy person.  The ambition for doing anything at all is flagging, and since I've always been highly distractable I don't finish a lot of projects (I suspect if I'd ever been tested for ADHD I could have scored high enough for the school system to have upset my mother).  So it's probably will.  I just don't have the will (determination, strength of character, self-discipline, backbone, tenacity) to sit down and do it.  Just do it.  Isn't that a slogan?

1. Prepare a well thought out argument about the wisdom of UALC's proposed capital campaign for remodeling both campuses. I know no one will listen--I've been through this a number of times since I was 11 years old.  For this I've gone all the way back to 1951 when the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren (see below 1956, $321,000) began its campaign to "add a few classrooms" for $13,000 to its building on Seminary Avenue and I conclude (in my busy mind) with Covid lockdowns, inflation, use of space in our current huge buildings, needs of our mission partners, and our current bond issue to increase even more our real estate taxes (just had a huge bond issue 3 years ago).
2. Research the seven books of the Bible (Septuagint) removed by Luther and now called "Apocrypha"  by Protestants--Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I and II Maccabees - plus sections of Esther and Daniel. It's the Bible Christians used for 1500 years.  Most of my personal library about the Bible is Reformed, Lutheran or Baptist, so it would take some effort to find balanced research. The public library is useless. Sometimes the internet is no help--either has too much or only the "approved" version. 
3. Find out why two words (without Christ) were added to the confession we use on Sunday. Even the 10 minutes I took to look at my old hymnals started me down a rabbit hole of thinking about how hymnals are revised and the copyright works.
4. Many art discussions and shows. Raphael tapestries (yesterday) being the most recent, but find many others, particularly in Magnificat. I have 2 magazines subscription, New Criterion and First things that have wonderful articles, but they sit on the living table for a month before the new issue arrives, then they are moved to my office.
5. Cull and take to resale, books and clothing. A never ending problem. Too much sentimental attachment.
6. My latest decorating mistake--new bedspreads for the guest room--didn't turn out well. Need to replace, and that means shopping and spending money.
7. Research advantages of a smaller car. Our Pacifica is too big and we're getting smaller.
8. Practice math. I need to start talking to myself, something like "I'm good at math," or "I can do this," or "Time to work through a few math problems."
9. Analyze the cost and advantage of new garage doors (most of the residents all ready have them, but since ours was less than 15 years old, we were exempt). It would replace one massive door with 2 smaller ones.
10. Find out how to get an approved Covid test for an upcoming colonoscopy.  I don't want to drive to the east side just because I'm part of a particular group and that's what COPC does.
11. Plan for our upcoming art show which will be hung on November 11, but the room for the reception is Sunday November 27.  Write my stories about the paintings, some of which go back to 1974, some using old photos, 1912, 1944, 1950, plus old Lakeside Rhein Center paintings in workshops. 
    
    
    
12. And my goodness.  So many things to relearn on the current computer (labels, database creation, scanning photos, pdf, etc.) that I knew for the old computer. So many things on the smart phone which I've had since February.
13. November book club. Will I read it?
14. Request several titles from UAPL, but will I read them?
15. Do something, or at least think about the musty smell in all the books and papers in the basement--I mean the "lower level" or the "man cave" aka office.  Had them all cleaned about 5 years ago.  Should I call Janet again--I can't get on a ladder anymore and she's just a few years younger; need to research the right solution to safely wipe down shelves and books. 
16. And did I mention going through all the "archives" of our art collection?  Two painters, plus all the paintings we've collected by other artists since the 1960s. We have frames, glass, acrylic, pieces of matt board, pieces of backing board, all standing up in a closet, or on shelves.
17. Should I buy more food for emergency storage?  Joe is talking Armageddon and nuclear war so we've got a crazy leader in Russia and a demented leader in the USA, and I don't even have extra batteries in the house, and I see a lot of pasta in my "emergency tornado" food box.  How would we cook pasta if Putin dropped a bomb on NYC or DC? Remember in the 1950s when the basement of our school building was lined with huge bundles of dried (I assume) food stuffs.  Must have been for the whole town. And we learned to duck under our school desks.  Sure, that will solve the problem our government doesn't know how to fix.
18. I'd better go do my hair.  Washed it this morning.

The new bivalent dose isn't catching on

Remember how everyone was trying to get the first dose of the vaccine? We went out in blizzards and stood in lines in February 2021. 80% of Americans trusted the CDC, President Trump, Fauci, and our local governors to keep us well. Now only 5% have received the latest bivalent dose that's been available for a month. But when the Democrats who had bad mouthed its development in 2020 did a flip and started pushing it while destroying the careers of medical people who suggested treating the disease and confining only those most vulnerable, and demanding lockdowns and school children get it when they weren't in danger, distrust of any politicians hawking the wares of Big Pharma set in.

Investing in your retirement and other boring topics

I got a late start in preparing for retirement. I was in my mid-40s with a full time tenure track job at Ohio State University and a put and take savings account. When I read the pension forms that came with all the other forms I might as well have been reading Russian, Распишитесь, пожалуйста. I began reading the Wall St. Journal--which was delivered to the Veterinary Medicine Library. I was trying to figure out the difference between a stock and a bond, learning about long term gains, what is a mutual fund, figuring out defined benefit and tax deferred annuities. And I'd call my Dad or talk to my brother who was a stock broker. We still made horrible mistakes by anyone's gauge of naivete.

 
But early on I know I decided I didn't like certain stocks, and that some investments weren't worth the return because they were in violation of my core beliefs. I didn't know what it was called but I wouldn't invest in tobacco, alcohol, certain food, health and beauty products (animal testing), and viaticals (insurance plan cash out, like for people with AIDS). Eventually, because large corporations eat up smaller ones, if I liked a snack product it later would be owned by a tobacco company (R.J. Reynolds and Nabisco or Philip Morris and Kraft). And then that group would split or merge into an even larger blob. But still, for awhile I could feel smug and self-righteous--I was a Democrat then and that's what they do.

 
That's the principle when talking people into accepting ESG--environmental, social and governance investing. Most of us do want to be moral, upright and kind to the poor and patriotic. The rub is who gets to decide, and who is pushing this? At this point in our history, the left is moving from the locker room pep talk to a full court press. This is how a Republican study committee looks at ESG:

"A small handful of leftist bureaucrats and board members are behind ESG. Americans never voted for it, but ESG is still making the entire country poorer, more reliant on foreign oil, and less free. ESG is a cornerstone of Democrats’ Green New Deal agenda and one of the most serious long-term threats to energy independence and Americans’ pocketbooks. The Republican Study Committee will push to make combatting ESG a priority after 2022."

In other words, we won't be able to make the choices and mistakes I made in the 1980s about what values and products I wanted to take care of me in my old age. However, if you google, bing, brave or duck-duck-go the term ESG, you'll find several pages of only the most wonderful, positive and downright religious sounding explanation. But if you start or own a company, you won't be able to invest, expand or even use a bank to pay your employees if you don't meet the government (or United Nation's) ESG goals for climate, equity, sustainability (never defined), science, gender, guns, abortion, etc.

The Left’s ESG Movement Is Coming After All Americans (dailysignal.com)

What Is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing? (investopedia.com)

And as far as retirement goals? Nothing has hurt us as badly as Biden's inflation and killer green economy, or helped us as much as Trump's Make America Great Again ambitious plan.

JP Morgan Chase cancels Ye

I heard on the radio that Chase has "cancelled" Ye (Kanye West). They can say it's his anti-Semitic remarks, but we know what it's about.

• He supports Trump;
• he appeared on the Tucker show;
• he had the audacity to say publicly white lives matter;
• he doesn't buy into the BLM nonsense;
• he speaks out for divorced fathers;
• he believes blacks don't have a place in the economy like other groups as long as they are on the dole;
• and he's a Christian.

But Trump is the #1 reason, The same Trump who has a Jewish daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. And the same people hiding behind this story ridiculed and insulted the Kushners and tried to destroy her business. The same ilk is OK with Berkeley, on the left coast, having "Jewish Free Zones" on its campus. These same hypocrites on the Left are OK with slaves in China and OK with the published death threats from Muslims against Israel. If I knew how to cancel my Chase account, I'd do it. Maybe someone can send me the name of the guy to write to. I do a lot of that.

JPMorgan Chase Terminates Relationship With Kanye West (businessinsider.com)

Prominent bank abruptly cancels Kanye West, gives him just weeks to move accounts to another bank - TheBlaze

I watched the Tucker interview and was very impressed. I didn't know much about Ye (his new self-chosen name), in fact, didn't even know he was divorced.

In Christ Alone, the controversy for almost a decade about a modern hymn

 And how do you interpret this hymn? "In Christ alone" by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

In our traditional service this Sunday (Oct. 9) we sang "In Christ Alone" which is a contemporary song, but I do like it and it fit the sermon theme, sort of. After the service I asked one of the pastors who's also a musician about the words in the second verse, “on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” Isn't that Calvin's interpretation, I asked. He assured me, it's in Lutheran theology. But it appears I'm not the only one asking.  Some people just don't sing that verse.

After our wonderful Sunday dinner which was sort of like my mom's (over done beef roast because it had to go in the oven before we went to church) I googled it. WOW. All sorts of controversy and that very line kept it out of some hymnals, including a Presbyterian!

I don't think it fits the whole O.T. sacrificial system we've been following up to the Cross, and God does come off sounding kind of nasty and petty, punishing someone for what others did instead of Jesus voluntarily offering a sacrifice we (humankind since Adam and Eve) haven't been able to do. But I know from being at a gazillion Bible studies over the last 50 years, that is how many Protestant denominations see that.

So what does your church do? Just sing it lustily and don't pay attention to the words just the emotion? Revise that verse and violate copyright? Receive it and believe it?

Here's just one article I looked at it. I shook my head and thought, "This is why there are 35,000 Protestant/Bible based denominations." https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/did-jesus-die-to-satisfy-gods-wrath/

And others: The Wrath of God Was Satisfied: Wondrous Love in the Awful Cross | Desiring God   The wrath of God satisfied? – Theology Everywhere   Wrath or Love? Calvin on Why Jesus Goes to the Cross | Reformedish (derekzrishmawy.com)   (PDF/Books) The Wrath Of God Satisfied Download FULL | Automation Journal (this one sounds really good, but I didn't download it) and from Augustine How Augustine Viewed the Cross | Billy Kangas (patheos.com)

And this one with a long quote from N.T. Wright, a prominent Anglican theologian: The Bible Guy | “The wrath of God was satisfied”? (steventuell.net)  Another N.T. Wright fan: 3a9f50ff-0846-417a-85a2-7623c472877f.pdf (calvin.edu)

But I did read a lot of viewpoints, and some fairly lengthy articles on copyright, and how hymns can form theology long into the future.  But this blogger from Australia fit my understanding best:

"Sydney Anglican blogger David Ould helpfully pointed out in the online debate that God’s wrath is not satisfied by severely punishing an unwilling child. Nor is the Father like a sadistic teacher.

“The solution to all this, the Scriptures teach, is that one dies in our place. The entire OT sacrificial system models this and then Jesus Himself comes and does it. He is no “abused child” and there is no “lashing out by God”, rather He chooses Himself to lay down His life (John 10:11, 15, 17-18). Those last two verses are stunning how they tell of the unity of purpose between Father and Son:

John 10:17 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.’” The Wrath against Wrath: “Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” - Eternity News

Why does Biden want marijuana convicts out of federal prisons?

 Biden lies to us about blacks and marijuana. The claim his writers/handlers are using is, “While studies show white and Black people use marijuana at similar rates, a Black person is more than three times as likely to be arrested for possession than a white person, according to a report from the ACLU that analyzed marijuana arrest data from 2010 to 2018.” That's bunk. ACLU definitely doesn't have the best interests of the black community at heart. Read any famous writer or observer of black/Negro life in the 20th century and you'll see marijuana is a huge factor in the destruction of families and businesses.

"Blacks comprise one-third of all treatment admissions nationally for marijuana abuse, though they represent only about 13 percent of the nation’s population. Among cannabis users, blacks have a nearly 70 percent higher rate of cannabis dependence than whites (16.82 percent v. 10.01 percent).

Cannabis is the illicit drug for which black drug abusers are most frequently treated (29 percent of all drug treatments), according to a 2013 U.S. Treatment Episode Data Set compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. By contrast, 12 percent of whites in drug treatment were there for cannabis abuse."

So do black lives matter to Biden? Doesn't look like it to me?

The renaming of military bases

Years ago Lakeside used to have a Civil War week. I remember attending a lecture on John Bell Hood and wondering why we had a military base named for a Confederate, and one who'd lost so many men. Then Victor Davis Hanson explained that today in his podcast. It turns out that after WWI Congress realized how poorly prepared the U.S. was. The Southern Democrats made a deal to get the appropriation. They would provide the land for the bases, which could revitalize their economy in the south, and they got naming rights. Now 100 years later Democrats who never noticed the Confederates before, are flipping on their agreement because of George Floyd guilt. They are really scrounging for wokeness in those disappeared names. Of course, not Patton or Westmoreland, they are too white. Isn't there anyone out there who served in the Gulf War who is a minority that has a good name for those streets, schools, and military forts?

"According to the commission’s report, Fort Benning will be named Fort Moore; Fort Polk will be renamed Fort Johnson; Fort Bragg will become Fort Liberty; Fort Gordon will become Fort Eisenhower; Fort Hood will become Fort Cavazos; Fort Lee will become Fort Gregg-Adams; Fort Pickett will become Fort Barfoot; Fort Rucker will be renamed to Fort Novosel." Fox News

Flying taxis and Chinese education

This morning I saw a TV report of a flying taxi being demonstrated in Dubai, made by the Chinese. The minute I saw it I was pretty sure the Chinese schools aren't submerged in woke and are making mincemeat of our union controlled, big government schools tying our young people to the failures of the past with D.I.E., diversity, inclusion and equity.

What a shame. The Chinese still have slavery, and Dubai lives on the servanthood of low income workers imported from all over the Asian and African world who can't become citizens. In the U.S. where we have a global population representing hundreds of ethnicities and cultures and we have opportunity for all, Leftists rotting the core of the Democrat party strangle our citizens with critical theory, climate lies, and destruction of our foundation in Western Civilization which has given all freedom to achieve and grow.

Happy Anniversary Vatican II

Today is the anniversary of the convening of Vatican II, October 11, 1962. 60th anniversaries don't get the hoop-la of 50th, but the document and changes (1962-1965) are still being analyzed, discussed and argued about. It was an attempt to put a 2,000 year old religion with 4,000 year old roots into the contemporary world. Maybe it was just the 60s and all we associate with those changes or maybe Pope John XXIII (who didn't live very long) really will go down in history as the man who made all Christians study more, speak differently and challenge authority about everything.

Of all the changes I will just address the language. Latin was (and still is) the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, but Vatican II without changing any content did completely change understanding of the lay person by introducing the vernacular (native or heart language) into public worship.

 
Christians evangelizing after the Resurrection of Jesus originally spoke Greek--it was a "world" language. Jesus and his disciples didn't speak or read Hebrew, but spoke Aramaic, a Hebrew dialect and used a Greek version of the Scriptures (Septuagint), what we now call the Old Testament. That worked pretty good for a few centuries, but by then Latin was the language of influence, literature and business everyone used in the Roman kingdom. St. Jerome is known for his massive efforts to get the Holy Scriptures (both old and new) into the people's language--now called the Latin Vulgate. Pieces of scripture were always available in the native language, but that was for personal use, not public worship. And today, none of us whether we speak English, or German or Russian, would even recognize any of those translations from the Greek. That's how language is--always changing--and English has more words than any other western language. Because "the sun never set on the Union Jack" and the sailors took the King James Bible with them, English has more borrowed and foreign terms than any other language.

Now to today. The latest language squabble in the Church is that Pope Francis has decided to stop use of the Latin Mass, even though millions of devout Catholics think the documents of Vatican II never say NOT to use it, only that the vernacular is best used to encourage the faithful. They LOVE the Latin Mass. Latin is still used in all official documents concerning doctrine, worship, and law. So that change has made some Catholics really unhappy. And ironically, Francis' demands were issued in Latin. Pope Francis restricts celebration of traditional Latin Mass (catholiceducation.org)

We see constant changes in our language without a pope or church--this coming from Twitter, Tech, Academe, the prison population and particularly from Marxist based manipulation. Truth is now "my truth," and "racism" applies only to people of a large swath of Europe. "Community," "narrative," "gender," "transition," and even "Constitution" have been twisted and reconfigured to meet a political agenda. 

And yet so many intelligent, educated people can no longer define what a woman is! St. Jerome is rolling in the grave.

Attacks on Catholic churches and pro-life centers

There have been at least 73 attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life offices, along with at least 83 attacks on Catholic churches, since the Supreme Court's decision was leaked to the public on May 2, according to CatholicVote, a Catholic political advocacy group.  Yet the FBI sent heavily armed federal agents to the home of Mark Houck, a pro-life activist, over allegedly shoving a Planned Parenthood worker following a verbal altercation. The local police had already investigated it and found nothing criminal. Imagine the hysteria of the media if 83 black churches had been attacked in a few months. Remember the non-story about black churches in the 1990s being burned, and it turned out it was just the media not doing their research. Well, they are certainly quiet about the problem the Left has with keeping babies alive long enough to be born.

Has The FBI Arrested Any Suspects In 150 Attacks On Pro-Life Groups And Churches? | The Daily Caller

One Lie at a Time

Today I listened to a Becket Cook show, "One lie at a time" that discussed the Norman Lear comedies of the 1970s-80s, like "One day at a time," "Maud," and "All in the family." He referred to Lear's sit-coms as promoting the Marxist plan to abolish the traditional family by demeaning the role of fathers, glamorizing or laughing at sexual promiscuity, promoting subjective truth and no boundaries values, and normalizing the secular humanist view. Certainly something to think about because the younger boomers and older gen-x were simmered in this cultural stew.   One Lie at a Time - The Becket Cook Show - Becket Cook (lifeaudio.com)

Becket had a successful career as a set designer in the Hollywood fashion world. He gave up that career and his flamboyant gay lifestyle when he became a Christian and went to seminary. He speaks at a lot of conferences and churches and has a podcast where he interviews many interesting people, some from the entertainment community (like Chynna Phillips).

Europe's winter energy supply endangered by Biden

The UK had rolling blackouts before the Russia-Ukraine War because of "renewables." Can't imagine what England is in for this winter now that Joe has become the fossil fuel gatekeeper. The U.S. could've have been the energy savior of the world, but Joe Biden's handlers wanted something different. We could have also been a leader in "renewables" because solving these sort of money making problems with technology is what the U.S. capitalists are known for. But again, someone thought it better that young minds in college focus on old Democrat lies like skin color, Jim Crow and which bathroom and pronoun to use. The D.I.E. cabal chose the meme that achievement, ambition and competition are "white," and therefore bad for minority youth, condemning them to a life of servitude in debt to the government.

"Andrew Crossland, an energy consultant who runs a website that tracks UK energy usage, told ITV News the UK has lost its energy diversity and energy independence because the country has closed almost all of its coal power plants, with the gap in provision mostly filled by imported gas." (Oct. 2021) Could the UK face blackouts this winter due to soaring energy prices? | ITV News 

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and SCOTUS

A Democrat FB-er (rhymes with fibber) claims there are no restrictions from the Democrats on speech and religion. Says it's just a myth. Wonder if he's aware of Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist., a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court and was just settled in July 2022?

Really? A coach prays privately, after a game, on the field when lots of others were also milling around and expressing their like or dislike for the outcome, but because he prayed, he lost his job. That's not religious oppression? He'd been doing it for years, bothering no one, but some ONE supporting the opposing team complained to his employer. "The District disciplined Mr. Kennedy only for his decision to persist in praying quietly without his students after three games in October 2015." 

That he won his case is important of course, but that it ever went that far is a travesty. It shows the harassment of Christians, and religion in general, just like the case against the Nuns who would not pay for birth control coverage for employees and the baker who wouldn't design a wedding cake for gay customers (whom he served for other events) and the florist who wouldn't design arrangements for a gay wedding. There have been so many cases about the first amendment either on speech or religion making it to SCOTUS I'm amazed at the stupidity of those who get offended by someone else's beliefs and are upset that the activity is protected by the Constitution.  https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/21-418 The Decision was 6-3, and guess who wanted to dismiss the protections for religion and speech--yup--Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan--the liberals.

I'm not familiar with the legal terms, but as a life time church member I know "establishment" of a religion or church takes a lot more work and time than praying silently on a football field for a few minutes and absolutely no one could construe that as a government activity or coercion. Except a Democrat.

"Monday’s ruling, Sotomayor concluded, “weakens the backstop” that the establishment clause provided to protect religious freedom. “It elevates one individual’s interest in personal religious exercise,” she contended, “over society’s interest in protecting the separation between church and state, eroding the protections for religious liberty for all.” (SCOTUS Blog, June 27, 2022) 

There is no phrase "separation between church and state" in the Constitution. It is written to protect us from the government not the other way around. At least for now, Congress opens each session with prayer.

Who is rich, and who pays the taxes in the USA?

In response to a Democrat on Facebook who slavishly follows his party line about taxes, border, religious freedom, education, political motives, abortion, etc. here's the truth about federal tax cuts in 2017 (aka, Trump presidency and his keeping his word to the voters)

"Income data published by the IRS clearly show that on average all income brackets benefited substantially from the Republicans' tax reform law, with the biggest beneficiaries being working and middle-income filers, not the top 1 percent, as so many Democrats have argued.
A careful analysis of the IRS tax data, one that includes the effects of tax credits and other reforms to the tax code, shows that filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $15,000 to $50,000 enjoyed an average tax cut of 16 percent to 26 percent in 2018, the first year Republicans' Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect and the most recent year for which data is available.

Filers who earned $50,000 to $100,000 received a tax break of about 15 percent to 17 percent, and those earning $100,000 to $500,000 in adjusted gross income saw their personal income taxes cut by around 11 percent to 13 percent." (From Yahoo news via The Hill, Dec. 24, 2021)

 
Although any tax cut benefits the rich since they pay over 70% of the federal income tax and the lowest income receive wealth transfers and 50% don't pay any federal taxes. With the Trump administration tax cut the top 1% who pay over 40% of the taxes saw their average rates fall to 25.4% from 26.8%. 

They make the most money--it's incredible how well millionaires can do in the USA, but they pay far more than their "fair share" and Democrats just want to drive them out of the country. Every president since I've been voting (JFK, 1960) has brought in more taxes to support some pretty odd and bizarre programs by reducing taxes, not punishing the successful. Biden wants to punish success, and although he puts "rich" at $400,000, we know he lies and doesn't keep his word.

"Rich" is a relative term. But if you're talking income from salary and not "wealth" you need to be earning $350,000 to be comfortably rich in an expensive or coastal city. (That's virtually all of Congress and "think tank" CEOs in DC.) And if you do and you are a family of 4, contribute to a 401k, pay federal and state and local taxes, plus FICA and take a child credit, you're paying $92,160 (32%) in taxes. And you can see the upward creep in taxes at https://www.financialsamurai.com/how-much-income-do-you.../ 

Democrats in Congress, the most overpaid and underworked Americans, lusting for more money to fund their socialist programs like climate change and woke capitalism, are mad that the rich actually made a lot more money with a tax cut that was smaller than the middle class. Duh! They didn't get rich by being stupid. Maybe they took that savings and invested it in stocks, or bought a new income property or paid off some high interest loans, or started a small company. The tax cuts made no difference to the low income or the no-income. You can't take away from zero. In the USA you can earn over $50,000 a year yet with Earned Income Tax Credits, the government will give you another $5,000 if you have 2 children and you pay NO taxes. No wonder people jump the border to get here.

What's next after transgenderism?

What rights group will be next for the Democrats to elevate to top victim heap they need to protect for political power?

The only rights group with any credibility and truly victims of injustice we generally call the "civil rights movement" of the 1950s-1960s and they were black citizens, or African Americans. This movement had been going on for decades and was lead primarily by blacks with political pushing by the Republicans. They worked for years to pass anti-lynching legislation (always stopped by Democrats) and civil rights legislation (were finally successful after years of Democratic blocking) when under Eisenhower the Civil Rights Act of 1957 passed. Civil Rights Act of 1957 | Eisenhower Presidential Library (eisenhowerlibrary.gov)

With the 1970s came Feminism. Possibly it had a few victims, but it brought it's own problems. Marriages failed and children began their childhood in day care. It was mostly legislation about safety, employment and sports. It got a big shot in the butt with #MeToo.

After Feminism, the attention turned to homosexuality, discrimination, marriage, and AIDS. Or as it's loosely known, the gay culture, or Queer culture, an umbrella term they use, not me.
After the Defense of Marriage Act (1996-2015) failed and homosexuals had the legal right to marry and divorce, there was so much money left in the coffers by the big donors, they needed another cause to add to the movement now called Intersectionality which had by then become radically cultural Marxism.

And that's how Transgenderism rose to the top. With less than 1% of the population and being biologically impossible. The current group at the head of the banquet leaves women and minorities to eat table scraps. And it's destroyed the concept of safety from sexual assault and women's sports. We now in a very short time have "affirming surgery," "chest feeding," male athletes competing in women's sports, and chemical or surgical castration of young boys and men. Oh yes, and drag queens at story hours.

No one loves a victim like the Democrat party. Who's next? They are in the kitchen making the sausage. Will you join?

The Hutchins and Houck cases

I know it's ancient history, but did the FBI arrest Alec Baldwin when he killed with an unregistered prop gun Halyna Hutchins? Don't we have federal and state gun laws? Is that a less serious offense than someone being pushed at an abortion event which the local police had already investigated and settled? Can we always expect the FBI to show up for cases under local jurisdiction or just for Catholics or just for pro-lifers? Do you remember how many Antifa or BLM rioters were arrested at home in front of their families by the FBI? They were burning down federal buildings and looting private property. It looks to me like the pro-abortion guy was assaulting the pro-lifer's son--that's why the local police settled it. Parents are allowed to protect their children, or were until Joe got on the scene. Why is Joe Biden using the FBI as his personal terror squad?

FBI arrest of Pennsylvania pro-life activist 'stinks to high heaven,' former prosecutor says: 'Loser case' | Fox News

Putin's war on Ukraine is our proxy war

Why does Putin think those territories belong to Russia? We helped. Check your history books, Democrats. 

When Obama was running for re-election in March 2012, a live microphone picked up his conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

"Obama told Medvedev it was important for incoming President Vladimir Putin to "give me space" on missile defense and other difficult issues and that after the 2012 presidential election he would have "more flexibility." (cns.news) No one tried to impeach him, but that message was far more dangerous and with a death toll far worse than anything Trump said to Zelensky on the phone, which he had every right to do and which was recorded live with no secrecy or whispers.

 
After Putin had that nod of approval from Obama, Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in Feb-March 2014 and sided with the Assad regime in Syria's civil war. It's been chaos in that region since.

 
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden got involved with Burisma for $50,000 a month, with no evidence he knew anything except his paternity. They were too smart to hand him a check--it was laundered through New York-based capital management firm Rosemont Seneca Bohai. And our media were too dumb or too bought to ever follow up on the corruption of the Biden Crime Family.

We're now in a proxy war, killing Russians and paying Ukrainians to do it.

The lived experience of Don Lemon

When Don Lemon of CNN says he knows Hurricane Ian was caused by climate change because he lived in Florida as a child, he's using the typical "lived experience" theory of the Left. Of course, the "lived experience" of the right doesn't count. Especially that which shows two well known FDA approved safe drugs can help treat a modern disease developed in a lab in a country on the other side of the ocean which spread and killed millions around the world.

National Hurricane Center chief shuts down CNN's Don Lemon trying to link Hurricane Ian to climate change | Fox News

News about the new booster from OSU

I have received an Ohio State News Alert:

"Individuals can receive the new COVID-19 booster two months after completing any primary series or any previous COVID-19 booster dose. The Pfizer bivalent booster is APPROVED for people who are 12 or older."

Approved? So I looked that up. It hasn't been approved by any agency that I can find in the Pfizer notice. It clearly says it's a permit for an unapproved product. And it also says this product is to prevent Covid-19, which the previous 4 shots haven't done, nor does the CDC say it prevents Covid.

Is this misinformation or mixed messaging or carefully worded warning not to sue?

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to permit the emergency use of the UNAPPROVED PRODUCT, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent (Original and Omicron BA.4/BA.5) for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 12 years of age and older."

So I continued browsing and on p. 19 (about which OSU doesn't warn it's 50,000 students and probably that many staff and faculty)

"Postmarketing data with authorized or approved monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines demonstrate increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly within the first week following receipt of the second primary series dose or first booster dose, with most booster doses likely administered at least 5 months after completing primary vaccination. For the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, the observed risk is higher among adolescent males and adult males under 40 years of age than among females and older males, and the observed risk is highest in males 12 through 17 years of age. Although some cases required intensive care support, available data from short-term follow-up suggest that most individuals have had resolution of symptoms with conservative management. Information is not yet available about potential long-term sequelae. The CDC has published considerations related to myocarditis and pericarditis after vaccination, including for vaccination of individuals with a history of myocarditis or pericarditis (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical considerations/myocarditis.html).
Revised: 31 August 2022

Columbus CEO uses diversity as soft porn

There's so much I could tell you about the "Columbus CEO" Fall 2022 issue. 1) It's gone completely overboard for D.I.E., 2) it's now a quarterly instead of a monthly, 3) it's now including soft porn in it's stories about D.I.E.

Yes, indeed, in this fall's issue (almost wrote month) cover story about Donna James, a black woman, fully clothed, who is going to make Victoria's Secret more inclusive and diverse so it can regain it's huge share in a dwindling skimpy underwear market it includes this photo. Evidence of inclusion. All shades of black, maybe a trans model (didn't read the story), an African model, obese, and who knows, perhaps one of them is mentally ill or challenged.

The story with the cover seemed to indicate that this accomplished savvy black woman is a shrewd 65 year old businesswoman who would turn the company around after the #metoo movement, a clientele that has moved on to hard porn and sex positivity (i.e. anything goes including choking and slapping and beatings), a scandal about Les Wexner's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and the transmovement where men are not only moving into women's locker rooms and sports, but taking their modeling jobs. That's a lot to dump on an older woman who wears long hair and matchy-matchy pant suits to work--like the 70s. She probably doesn't wear the product.

And I'm not surprised "Columbus CEO" has moved to fewer issues. How long can you attract advertisers who want to hold on to a market that is based in a city that is 72% white, 16% black, 4.3 Asian, 4.3 Hispanic and the rest "other" with stories on racism, gender anomalies, obesity is good, all the while telling your market they are bad, disgusting people taking up too much space on the planet?

Maybe it will work--I was a librarian not a publisher (Ray Paproki), and I'm certainly not their target audience. To me, it looks like shooting yourself in the . . . foot.

Update: Last year's Future 50 (in business, influence, etc.) cover issue had over half women, 40% black, and when I looked through, none live in areas predominately black or minority, virtually all in high income areas with big salaries. Does that show success or that "Columbus CEO" is a hypocrite and all the diversity articles are just hype to be on the bandwagon? The editor for that issue is now gone.

Kamala Harris is a blatant racist and classist

Kamala Harris may be the biggest racist of the year, or maybe of the Biden administration. . . and that's saying something. Democrats will claim that Trump is a racist with no evidence.  But the Biden gang proves it every day.  Her latest scandal is she has politicized Hurricane Ian because she wants "equity." Federal money she told a Democrat political group should go to the poor and [read] black people. I guess if a black multi-millionaire loses his property because the house was too close to the water on Sanibel, FEMA should give him more money than the white middle class guy who uses his property to invest for his retirement. But in her mind it's about "climate change" (used different set of words to be cagey) and systemic racism. The woman, who most recently told the world we were allies of North Korea and cackles like a crow, cannot be trusted with history, science, common sense or the best interests of black Americans.

The referendum, fair of course, in Ukraine

Putin says they have voted to be Russians--the Ukrainian territories of Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Yes, we know how those middle of the night boxes arrive mysteriously full of votes. Of course, when it happens on the other side of the world instead of 8 critical swing states, the Democrats do get smart and will cry foul.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/30/europe/putin-russia-ukraine-annexation-intl/index.html

Think before you vote--it's still taking a life no matter what Democrats call it

If you live in a state that is going for a constitutional amendment for abortion (like Michigan) think before you vote. Especially if you are pro-choice. The amendment goes much further than Roe, and that's one of the slogans--return to Roe. That's a lie. It removes your parental rights, it forces you to pay for them, it removes your right to conscience protection if you are a health worker, and in the extreme since it could allow a 14 year old to decide to abort, it could remove her protection of current age of consent laws. If she can decide abortion, why not sex with an adult man? Liberals/progressives, Democrats, humanists just lie about important issues. I don't know why, but you always need to dig down deep for the truth. They also play with words. On the ballot, it will not be clear in most cases. Investigate before you vote. It's abortion anytime, anyplace, any reason. That could mean no regulation of clinics, or it could mean sucking out the brain the day before the due date. Although on that last one, if it's legal, I suppose the baby doesn't need to be dead before delivery to avoid homicide charges.

"Calling it a “hodgepodge of nonsensical gibberish” and a “word salad” of “incomprehensible argle-bargle,” opponents of the measure say it is so riddled with typographical errors that state officials should strike it from the Nov. 8 ballot.

“The text of the amendment is filled with run-on words that are incomprehensible, making an already confusing amendment impossible to understand,” Christen Pollo, spokeswoman for Citizens to Support MI Women and Children, a coalition of pro-life groups opposed to the proposal, said Aug. 16.

“Amending the constitution is serious business” she added, “and these people didn’t take it seriously enough even to proofread their own language.”" Oops! Typo-filled Michigan abortion amendment could have used a proofreader | Catholic News Agency

For those poorly catechized Christians who believe the liberals' lie that Jesus didn't address abortion, a common event in first century middle east, keep in mind what both the OT and NT says about taking care of the poor, weak and hungry. You can't find a better definition of a pre-birth baby.

October by Robert Frost

Since it's October 1, I thought I'd post the October poem by Robert Frost, but some critic spoiled my plan by reminding the reader that Frost was writing about death. It's the crows. When poets write about crows, says the critic, that tells you death is coming. But critics know that, and I didn't.

Poetry Analysis: October, by Robert Frost | The Literary Dragon

So let's just go with face value of the poem. The rows of maples on Henderson and McCoy have just a touch of gold this morning. Always sad to see since we know what coming, but thankful for the beauty.

"Taken at face value, this poem speaks, with a simple elegance, of the unique beauty of a crisp October morning. With an attention to detail that is characteristic of Frost, the poem carefully lays out the scene: just a quiet morning in early October. The air is silent, “hushed” even, but for the distant sound of crows. Multicolored leaves paint the ground in bright colors-red and gold and brown. A simple scene, rendered instantly familiar to any New Englander. Who would think to look any further?"

I checked my blog, and I've written 3 other posts about Robert Frost. I’m old enough to have actually attended a poetry reading by Robert Frost, one of the 20th century’s most famous and favorite poets, when I was a student at the University of Illinois. (He died in 1963.) My date that night was someone I'd met at Chinese Student Club, and I'm not sure if he understood anything, but he was polite and listened carefully. My roommate Dora Lee was Chinese (her family escaped from Communist China) which is why I attended Chinese Student Club.

The poem ends with grapes.  Isn't that nice?   A symbol for communion for Christians, although I doubt Frost of thinking in that direction.

Serendipity trivia:  While I was looking for a photo of Frost at the U. of I. on the internet, I took my 1959 Illio (yearbook) off the shelf.  It didn't have a good table of contents or index for special events so I started leafing through it.  I saw a photo of students at the first football game packed in like sardines, and there were two women from my house, McKinley Hall, Sandra McArthur and Mary Jo Brodd.  I also attended that game (got sick which is why I remember), so I studied it pretty carefully to see if we might have had a block of tickets, but I didn't see me.

The farm on Daysville Road

 In May we sold our summer home in Lakeside, Ohio, after owning it for 34 years. Part of the sale contract was we would stay until Labor Day, so we did get to enjoy one last summer. That's just a little longer than we owned our home on Abington Road where we raised our family. We bought it in 1988 and I still was suffering from a bad case of "empty nest." I remember how much fun it was to decorate it--we were starting from scratch because everything needed to be refreshed, remodeled, or replaced. In May 1989 Bob and his friend Ron changed the paint color from white to mauve, which it remained through summer 2022, our last year.  Some knick knacks and mementos made the trip from Columbus to Lake Erie, although I didn't want it to look like our home in Columbus.  I shopped in Sandusky for things like sheets and towels, and I believe the wall paper (all the rage then) in cream, mauve, rose and blue, came from a Columbus store. 

One of my own paintings seem to fit the theme of the master bedroom--sort of rural and folksy with maple furniture from the 1940s, so it made the trip to the summer home and stayed for 34 years.  This is an acrylic painting I'd done around 1978 from a photo I'd taken in around 1974 of the field of soybeans and neighboring farm at my mother's family farm near Franklin Grove.  I believe at the time I was told that was the --------- place, and it may have even been a distant relative, but I've forgotten the name. If I had the Lee County History book, I could perhaps look it up.  

I doubt that I painted the buildings accurately because it was the sky, particularly the clouds, that caught my eye that hot day. The sun was high in the sky and the fluffy clouds created a shadow on the fields.  The farm land in that part of Lee County is very flat, so when you're outside, you have a feeling that it's all sky--maybe like Montana which is called "big sky." A story that was told to me, I think by my father, is that this area was all marsh in the 1800s when the white settlers arrived. It was near Inlet Swamp.  I'd heard from my grandmother that her father had tiled the land to drain the water. He got the land very cheap, maybe $1.00 an acre because it was swampy and wet--considered worthless for farming.  If I could see what's west of that farm on Daysville Road in the painting I think it would be Old Mill Road and Franklin Creek Park.  

 So this painting hung in the Lakeside house for 34 years, and is now in the bathroom off my office.

Joe and Kamala--not a good week

Joe honored a woman in the room who was dead and Kamala said the U.S. was in an alliance with North Korea.

I don't blame them, I blame the Democrats for electing them. They knew exactly what they were getting--a confused old man past his prime (if he had one--he had a 45 year record as a gaffe machine and plagiarist) and a woman chosen for her race who actually called Biden a racist during the 2020 campaign! Now how dumb can the voters be!

And then his Spox Karine Jean-Pierre tried to cover for him when even the usually cover-up press corps brought it up. All she needed to say was, "He misspoke," and although it would have been a lie, it would have been over.  She just went on and on with her fable.

Vice President Kamala Harris commends US alliance with 'Republic of North Korea' in DMZ speech gaffe | Fox News

Watch: Joe Biden Searches Room for Deceased Congresswoman in Incredibly Awkward Moment – RedState

Transgenderism goes mainstream

Does anyone remember maybe 40-50 years ago Billy Graham was vilified by the Leftists for suggesting that rapists might be castrated to stop their attacks on women and boys? He apologized. Now we have everyone from university medical schools, to the AMA to the President of the United States claiming it's OK either through surgery or hormone blockers to castrate boys who fantasize about wearing dresses and attracting men. Yes, even adolescents or younger, no counseling, just confusion or a fantasy. And some of the parents go along to get along. My, how things change in the Halls of Ivy.

 
And we get to participate in this new form of child abuse by funding it with our tax dollars. We've got a clinic right here on the Ohio State campus (and all the other public university campuses like Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati). An abusers' "heaven." Only they dress it up (no pun) a little and call it, Transgender Heaven. Look it up, I'm not kidding.

Rare earth minerals

Having sold off so much of the US strategic critical mineral reserves, the US now depends on China for rare earth minerals, which are crucial for everything in the US military from F-35 fighter jets, missiles, and tanks to mobile phones and radio communication.

The rare earths dependency on China stems in part from the fact that extracting rare earth minerals is an extremely polluting process that China has been willing to undertake, while most other countries have not, including the US, which ironically prides itself on having strict environmental regulations in place."

How the US Squandered Its Strategic Minerals :: Gatestone Institute

Compare and contrast the response to Katrina and Ian

Let's review some history of the media and Democrat party (redundant). Remember Katrina? In 2005 New Orleans was devastated. It had a black Democrat mayor responsible for the local evacuation and safety. Louisiana had a female Democrat governor who should have had the rest of the state ready to respond as well as her neighbors. Who did the press blame? President Bush. Why? Because he flew over and looked at the devastation and didn't parachute into the eye of the storm. Makes sense right?

 
Let's contrast to Ian, the storm currently devastating Florida. Some in the mainstream media (not all are so stupid) can't blame Biden so they want to discuss "climate change" which they confuse with weather. That way they can continue to back Biden's inflationary plans for the green new deal (IRA) instead of fighting highest inflation in 50 years, shortages of fuel which could leave Europe freezing this winter, and chaos at our southern border with the sex and drug trafficking.

 
Because DeSantis was better at controlling Florida's economy while the rest of the nation locked down and shuddered at the latest pronouncement of Fauci and CDC (many of which have been proven wrong) the left has temporarily postponed their attacks on Trump (J-6 clown show was set aside) and moved on to DeSantis, like the ugly ladies of the View, the MSM talking heads and the Soros backed twitter bots.

Oh yes, and President Bush was called racist during rescue efforts during Katrina, because many died in the poor, black neighborhoods of NOLA. Four years later when all the data were examined, it turned out that NOLA with 65% black population showed 51% of the dead from all storm related causes were blacks, and it was the elderly that were most vulnerable. That should have been the take away from that disaster. It could have been applied to the pandemic, along with centuries of experience. But no. For holding on to power, Biden needed to control the whole nation, and particularly shut down the churches while leaving bars and tattoo parlors open. Governors (like ours in Ohio, a Republican) followed meekly, trusting one science, but not another. Mayors of blue cities allowed crowds for rioting but not open churches because George Floyd was a good cause (for BLM).

 
In NOLA during Katrina and aftermath many of the elderly died when the power was out. In Florida, I heard on an interview yesterday, all nursing home and retirement facilities have 100% secondary back up for power. (Those fleeing in electric cars were just out of luck.)

Hurricane Katrina Deaths, Louisiana, 2005 | Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness | Cambridge Core

Are you a classicist?

A Pelosi staffer (an intern) interrupted Victor Davis Hanson in a luncheon presentation for government staffers accusing him of being a classicist. Puzzled, VDH questioned what he meant. He said that because he was a classicist he was oppressing the poor and working classes. When VDH calmly explained that a classicist was a scholar who studied ancient languages, literature and history of Greece and Rome his attacker stormed out, grabbing several boxes of pizza as he left. And that my friends is what goes on in the bubble we call D.C. (VDH show on Sept. 27, podcast)

Joe Biden just doesn't care

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who worked and paid their own costs for college--tuition, fees, transportation, housing, meals, and social life for four or five years, more if they went to graduate school.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who applied for loans and grants and graduated with debts they paid off just as they had agreed to do.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who were promised more than could be delivered, who left college with debt that plagued them for many years. Like the appliance repairman who was here a few days ago who left college with $40,000 debt and a job that didn't pay as well as he had before he enrolled.

Joe Biden doesn't care about those who finished high school with a degree or GED and went on to build a successful life and never went to college or accumulated no debt for their training on the job.

Joe Biden doesn't care that each U.S. household since he's moved in part time at the White House has lost about $4600 a year due to inflation.

Joe Biden doesn't care that he's adding $4 Billion (CBO figure) to that 8.5% inflation to illegally forgive student debt which will affect the middle income much more than the lawyers and doctors who can now spend more without their student debt.

Joe Biden doesn't care that he's given the green light to academic administrators to raise their tuition and fees even more.

What Joe Biden really cares about is the votes he's buying for the November election to keep the Democrats in power to spend, lie and steal.

Inflation costing Americans an extra $460 per month: analysis (nypost.com)

2022-09-27-garrison-v-us-dept-of-education-complaint.pdf (pacificlegal.org)

St. Lorenzo Ruiz Feast Day

 One of the advantages of using a Catholic publication (Magnificat) for my morning meditation time is the history and fine art that I learn.  As a protestant, my exposure to Christian history, after the death of the disciple John, was whatever happened after 1708 (Church of the Brethren) or later when we joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, the dispersion and scattering of Christians into thousands of denominations after Martin Luther (German) and John Calvin (French) in the 16th century. 

On the Catholic calendar today is the feast day of St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint, and he was born around 1600 and canonized by John Paul II in 1987.  Although some U.S. Christians deny that Christians today are martyred or persecuted for their faith (the largest number by Communists), that's not what the statistics show.  Just because we have the First Amendment to our Constitution in the U.S. and do not feel personally persecuted doesn't mean it isn't happening in Asia and Africa where the growth is the strongest. 

"[He] and his 15 companion martyrs, all members and associates of the Dominican Order, were slain in Japan between 1633 and 1637.  Persecutions stemmed from a 1603 edict by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu banning Christianity.  From 1623, suspected Christians were forced to tread on images of Mary and Jesus. Those who refused were executed.  The tortures from his period were designed to force the victims to renounce their Faith.  Some Christians did apostasize.  The men and women honored today spent their last excruciating hours with their hearts raised in prayer and hymns of praise." (Magnificat, vol. 24, no. 7, p. 388-389).  

So of course, I had to turn to the internet for more information since my personal library is not much help. His death is just too gruesome to repeat, I don't even recommend that you look it up, but I was struck by the fact he was sort of an accidental martyr.  Although a devout Christian, he really hadn't intended to be a missionary to the Japanese, and got there by accident fleeing his homeland on a homicide charge. He arrived in the middle of a terrible persecution, but his faith and early training held up and endured the most terrible torture. 

Because this group of Christians who were killed in the 17th century were in Nagasaki, one of the bombed cities at the end of WWII, I continued looking through historical material on the internet.  I found out a remnant of the Christians survived, and even had a thriving community in the 1940s.  That area of Nagasaki where they lived was at the center of the destruction and was destroyed.  One Christian survivor of the A-bomb  believes "the war ended because of our sacrifice.” https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2015/10/08/nagasakis-hidden-christians-survive-persecution-and-the-atomic-bomb/

Christian Persecution in the 21st Century - Good News Christian NewsGood News Christian News (goodnewsfl.org)