R-E-S-P-E-C-T

 https://youtu.be/A134hShx_gw

I used to have a lot of respect for "scientists." They were the real deal. I was an Agriculture librarian for several years, and a Veterinary Medicine Librarian for 14. I loved to walk across the street and see what was going on in the vet hospital. None of the fake squishy stuff we in the "social sciences" researched and wrote about. Between the woke nonsense and the pandemic locked lips, that admiration is mostly gone--unless the doctor graduated before 1985. It's all about D.I.E. now, and they can't say a word about the best candidate NOT being selected, or the ridiculous question on forms so they don't trigger anyone. Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Gov, and U. of Biggest have shut them up. The ultimate lockdown. Where else will the grants come from--the grants of which 60% goes to the university and department? And how will you find a trans, black, disabled woman to be on the research team? It was always hard to go against the grain--like if you had a different theory about Alzheimer's, but couldn't get anyone at NIH or NSF to take the risk. But now? Good luck if you're white and male--might as well go into plumbing with Dad rather than waste 8 years and thousands of dollars. It would be like being the best female swimmer in your school, but the college scholarship goes to the male who joined the team at 15 when he discovered he was feeling a little bit female--about the same time he couldn't place on the men's team. That's what a science career is now.

Digital dump #6 by Elon Musk

While the media mavens wring their hands about being blocked from Twitter for doxxing (they never worried about a president being blocked), they ignore the big story. The FBI was permanently surveilling Americans using their First Amendments rights to free speech instead of chasing the bad guys. They were not checking on charges, but snooping. Probably hoping to find imaginary white supremacists. Where is the white supremacist who bailed on our allies in August 2021, or who sent billions to Ukraine in 2022 with no way to account for the money, who who has left our border wide open for drug and sex trafficking for 2 years. Yes, where are those bad guys--on social media--or sitting in the White House telling jokes no one understands?

This is what upset them--not the news of the corruption in the FBI: “Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation. This includes posting links to sites with real-time location info,” Musk wrote." The Gateway Pundit

Twitter Files: Elon Musk: Matt Taibbi: Part 6 of the Twitter Files reveals FBI connections to the platform (ndtv.com)

Elon Musk Targets the FBI as 'Twitter Files' Saga Continues (msn.com)

At least dump 6 got the libs talking. They'd been ignoring the Twitter expose of their own culpability until they were caught doxxing and punished. Twitter files: CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS blackout coverage of Elon Musk leaks | Fox News

Churches and the Paycheck Protection Plan of 2020 (PPP)

Very few churches turned down the PPP money, but they sure shut their doors and service obligations when the state said tattoo parlors and bars were essential but churches weren't. Not taking the name of the Lord in vain has got to be bigger than not cussing and swearing.

https://youtu.be/6NhKH91nvJg Dave Ramsey's view--he feared the rules would be changed

Church, Ministry, and the PPP: Should Churches Take Government Handouts? – Dispensational Publishing

For some churches, paying back PPP loans is better than forgiveness (religionnews.com) Some churches didn't use the loans or gave them back.

Ministries and Churches Receiving More than $1-M in Paycheck Protection Program Funds – MinistryWatch Evangelical churches that received a million or more in PPP

Rodney Stark 1934-2022

I just read that Rodney Stark died this past summer at 88. I don't have many favorite authors (because I usually don't remember names), but I enjoyed his clarity, readability and style. That said, I really didn't know much about him. From Breakpoint: "His book "The Rise of Christianity" was published in 1996. In it, Stark argued that the incredible growth and spread of Christianity were because it offered more to people than any of its competitors. In particular, Stark argued that the rapid growth of the Church was, in large part, due to how Christians treated women. This, especially compared to the pagan treatment of women, led to more conversions, which led to the faith being spread through social networks. Also, prohibitions of abortion and infanticide led to an organic growth of the Church, and how Christians responded to persecution and plague led to a growth in credibility. "The Rise of Christianity" was so groundbreaking that it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize . . . In 2005 Stark wrote what may be his greatest book, "The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success." "

So first century Christians saved babies from abortion and infanticide and their numbers grew. And Christians responded to plagues. Or maybe God blessed them. Just a thought.

2022-IJRR-Are-Religious-Nones-Really-Not-Religious.pdf (baylorisr.org) Are Religious “Nones” Really Not Religious?: Revisiting Glenn, Three Decades Late This 2022 article may be his last.

The First Amendment has been shredded by U.S. government agencies

"The FBI was not the only one to flag content. The Department of Homeland Security and several state governments notified Twitter of content they thought was problematic. Some of this was done through the Partner Support Portal, an outlet constructed by the Center for Internet Security, a partner organization with the DHS.

"What most people think of as the 'deep state' is really a tangled collaboration of state agencies, private contractors, and (sometimes state-funded) NGOs. The lines become so blurred as to be meaningless," Taibbi concluded."

Twitter files: Tech giant was in 'constant and pervasive' contact with FBI | Washington Examiner

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/republicans-respond-after-twitter-files-6-reveals-fbi-flagged-users-and-tweets

CNN panel seethes over Musk not giving them Twitter Files: 'Not in the spirit of free speech' | Fox News

Twitter reinstates accounts of suspended journalists and Mastodon (msn.com)

Elon Musk releases Twitter's files on censorship of Post (nypost.com)

Trafficking in Persons Report 2022

Before we talk reparations with California governor Newsom trying to earn points so he can get to the White House with all the crazies, lets do something about the 28,000,000 slaves, mostly in Africa and Asia, that haven't been set free. Instead of giving money to African leaders as reparations to combat climate change, Biden should be asking them for reparations for black Americans, if this were actually a moral issue.  Africans are the ones who sold their enemies or victims of raids to the Europeans who couldn't go into the interior. We outlawed slavery in the Civil War. Many African countries have done it only with lip service.

"Let us stand together and press for accountability from those leaders who condone and support human trafficking, create conditions ripe for mass exploitation, and perpetuate this fundamental insult to human dignity. Those that perpetrate, condone, or support this crime must be held accountable." Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, Biden administration.

Reading through the report [search by country name] you may wonder as I did, how much of the money and effort are going for ending slavery--I see climate change, many groups skimming funds for "counseling" for victims, services for marginalized people (aka diversity and inclusion) LGBTQ rights, etc., the usual woke agenda now being imported to countries with more than enough of their own problems without taking advice from the Bidenistas.
President Clinton signed this Act in 2000 and President Bush put it into action. It has been tweaked and fiddled and diddled. Time for action. I don't know how fraud is avoided because reporting a reduction of the crime of slavery or passing more laws would seem to reduce the funding, although I'm not sure how that works. 

Typical report, after the dull, dry information of inadequate facilities, staffers and laws, what makes the 2022 report different is the toll the pandemic took: "As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Kenya, and traffickers exploit victims from Kenya abroad. Traffickers exploit children in forced labor in domestic service, agriculture, fishing, cattle herding, street vending, and forced begging. Traffickers exploit women and children in sex trafficking, often facilitated by family members in informal settings, throughout Kenya, including in sex tourism in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. In 2020, an international NGO reported there are between 35,000 and 40,000 victims of sex trafficking, including child sex tourism, in Kenya, of which approximately 19,000 are children; most perpetrators are Kenyan and, to a lesser extent, foreign tourists. Government officials and NGOs report traffickers increasingly exploit children in sex trafficking in private villas and vacation homes to avoid law enforcement detection in hotels. Workers in Khat cultivation areas and near gold mines in western Kenya, truck drivers along major highways, and fishermen on Lake Victoria also exploit children in sex trafficking.

During the pandemic, traffickers increasingly exploited children in sex trafficking, including using online recruitment tactics, and in forced labor in domestic work and forced begging. Employment agencies, both legal and fraudulent, recruit Kenyans to work in the Middle East (particularly Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, and Oman), Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, Northern Africa, and North America, where traffickers exploit them in massage parlors, brothels, domestic servitude, or manual labor; Kenyans who voluntarily migrate in search of employment opportunities are also vulnerable to exploitative conditions."

I wonder if Kenyan children get counseling about top and bottom surgery or if that is just for American sexually abused children.

https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/kenya/

Was Mary the ghost writer of the Gospel of Luke?

 Our senior Bible Study has been looking at the 4 gospels and the birth story of Jesus Christ.  Yesterday it was Luke, then a worship service, followed by a nice lunch.  I asked our pastor if Luke had interviewed Mary to get all the details about the birth story.  There were a lot of intimate details not usually known to anyone but the mother.  He conceded that some Bible experts think Luke may have talked to her.  Here's my response (not in class, but privately).

"About Luke interviewing Mary. I think she is the source, or ghost writer, for Luke, as Paul was the source for Acts. Luke says he's a good researcher, he hadn't met Jesus, he's the only New Testament writer who wasn't a Jew, and the "experts" say his Greek was the best of the New Testament. The role of the Holy Spirit was to choose him, I think. But as a woman who has given birth and raised children, I see details in the story no one knew except Mary. Today I grilled my husband on a few details about our oldest son, Stanley (b. 1961 d. 1963). I asked him if he remembered the name of the clinic where he was born. No. Did he remember what surgery he needed before we could bring him home. No. Did he remember how and where our mothers slept while staying at our tiny apartment when they came (separately) to help us the first week or two. No. Did he remember how the diapers were washed. No. Did he remember what floor of the apartment building we lived on. No. Did he remember the bouquet of flowers he brought me in the hospital. No. He did remember the birth announcement because he designed it. So mothers remember a lot of details that the fathers never think about, and wouldn't mention to anyone unless asked. I think Luke includes the details about the women, not just to include them as the wider church, but because Mary noticed--Elizabeth her cousin and the baby John jumping in her womb, the wedding miracle, the woman at the well, the widow of Nain, Martha and Mary, the woman who anoints his feet, and the women at the tomb. We know women were among the followers, and Mary was with them. Who else is going to tell Luke these stories? Paul wasn't there. Mary was very young when Jesus was born; many other followers would have been deceased by the time the gospels were written 50-60 years later. And of course, your commentaries from seminary days didn't say much--all were written by men, and you don't know what you don't know and you don't investigate what has never occurred to you. Just yesterday, I learned that mice can't vomit. I was a veterinary medicine librarian for 14 years, knew a lot about lab animals but didn't know mice can't vomit (and I also know more than most people about pig poop). And it had never occurred to me that they couldn't, so I never asked, wondered, or speculated about it.

Mary, “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Our son died 60 years ago, and I still have little treasures I ponder. Mary remembered and blessed us all with this beautiful story recorded by Luke."

Stop the race wars

Most poor Americans are white (61% of the population receiving welfare, listed as "means-tested cash assistance" by the Census Bureau, is identified as white, while 33% is identified as black.) Most ill Americans are white. Most obese Americans are white. Most diabetics are white. Most cancer victims are white. Americans who serve in the military are mostly white and male and middle class. Most American workers who grow your food (25,896 agriculture workers are white and majority are male), work in factories, deliver your products, fix your plumbing (there are 276,986 plumbers of which over 95% are men, and 68% are white), build your houses, repair your roofs, keep your cars running (99.4% of auto repairmen are male, but women make more in that field), pave your roads, plow your streets after a blizzard, restore your electricity after a storm, and who protect your families are primarily white men. So who do the leftists/Democrats/progressives attack? White men. Instead of recognizing their importance in society, they criticize them and call them "white supremacists." They call them every dirty, despicable name, weaken the fabric of our society, and demean their humanity. And the worst accusers? White men! People in Congress looking for your tax dollars to spend on their campaigns. Time to stop it. Need some lawsuits using "hate speech" laws because this slander and behavior would not be allowed with any other group--groups, incidentally, artificially made up by the government.

Ideology of power

 Remember when Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s blamed all Germany's problems on Jews? The U.S. went to war to stop him. Now we have a fascist group in power in all areas of our culture from government to corporations to teachers unions who are blaming all their problems on a race, particularly white Christians. Was Hitler wrong because of the group he chose to hate, or because his ideology of blame was used to expand his power base? We can examine three civil wars going on right now in 2022--Ukraine/Russia, South Sudan and Ethiopia--where the same ideology is put forth about "otherness" to create dissension, division and disaster among those of the same nation/people/religion. But at the base is lust for power.  #TruthMatters.

Brandon Straka and J-6

 #Walkaway is one of those organizations that is blocked by social media mafia because it accepts all--gay, straight, trans, drag queens, black, white, brown, those living outside the U.S., Christian, Jew, Hindu, bakers and candlestick makers--all who want to walk away from the lies of the Democrat party. Brandon Straka, the founder, who is gay, was sentenced to 3 years of probation after being swept up in the gulag net after J-6, for speaking at a rally before J-6. I considered him a political prisoner. No one burning federal and state buildings or destroying businesses in the 2020 riots that affected hundreds of blue cities received the harsh treatment of those the government snared in the protest of the outcomes of the November 2020 election. Those people are free to loot and burn again, and even if arrested for current crimes they will be back on the streets the next day.

Mice can't vomit

The editor of a science journal I subscribe to admitted in his final editorial that he didn't know that mice can't vomit until just recently. Wow! No matter how much the mice want to, or how many papers are on the internet claiming it to be so, or how often the White House Resident issues a statement and invites little mice to a bill signing, mice can't vomit. I didn't know it either, but apparently most scientists know mice don't vomit (being an editor, he doesn't have a biology background). But you and I know some things scientists don't know, or at least have to keep quiet about or lose grants or their bottom surgery position. Here it is. Women are not men, and men cannot become women just because they wear a certain type of underwear, slather on lipstick and mascara, or have their penises turned inside out with surgery. Don't submit to this heresy and hysteria. #TruthMatters. Don't you be forcing those poor little lab mice to puke!

Religious freedom?

"An estimated 350,000 religious congregations operate schools, pregnancy resource centers, soup kitchens, drug addiction programs, homeless shelters, and adoption agencies. These serve 70 million Americans each year and the value of their services are estimated at over $44.3 billion annually." (Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, Vol. 12, Art. 3 (2016)) This is from a religious freedom brochure. Considering how these "free" organizations are controlled by government regulations and are then manipulated by their grants to continue their work I question how free they are to worship, speak out, to petition the government, or to hold privately beliefs about marriage, education and business.

Legal surrogacy is an industry needing legislation

In case you were out of moral and ethical problems to worry about, have you given thought to legal surrogacy--or rent a womb? Many states outlaw it, as do many countries. Ukraine doesn't. And when the war broke out, there were some babies in limbo, or women left postpartum in a war zone without care after the foreign parents swooped in, picked up the baby on demand, and left. In countries that allow it, it is exploitation of poor women. Now Congress is getting involved, although I can't find the right link. New legislation is being planned (follow the money) to insure that gay men or trans women can have their babies and still have insurance coverage and tax deductions. Family building not as God intended. Just a quick internet search reveals the number of Gay Surrogacy businesses. Since I can't find the information, I don't know if there is any protection for the womb mother. Probably not. Politicians buy off the poor, but they don't really help them. We have a SCOTUS justice who can't define woman, a wealthy, highly educated heterosexual lawyer who can't figure it out. It's now considered a "rights" issue--the proposed legislation has to clarify what is infertility; obviously two gay men may not be infertile, nor a single woman, so that can't be the criteria. But someone better hurry with a definition, because technology and the culture has moved on past that little detail. "Inside the rapidly changing world of reproductive technology." If we leave it up to rights groups and politicians (both left and right) we'll have a mess.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-rapidly-changing-world-of/id983782306?i=1000590081088

Emma Waters, Heritage Foundation is the speaker interviewed on the Federalist Podcast by  Emily Jashinsky

Bidenflation--now costing about $7,000 per household

Biden's bungling of the economy (shutting down fossil fuel sources, screwing up trade deals, flooding the borders with job seekers, sex workers, and criminals, making us dependent on foreigners who hate us) has cost the average family $7,000 a year. Now he's bragging that inflation is leveling off. Lies, lies.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/13/average-american-family-has-effectively-lost-7100-biden-economist-says/

Biden’s six favorite lies about inflation and the economy | The Hill

Biden claims inflation 'averaged 2%' after data shows 8.2% (nypost.com)

The Full List Of Every Lie Biden Has Told As President: 139 And Counting (thefederalist.com)

Who's on first?

 I was confirmed in a Lutheran church (ALC synod) in 1976. But it was only last month I learned that Luther's translation into the vernacular (German) was not the first. "The Luther Bible was not the first German printed edition, for there were already 18 printed Bibles before it, the so-called pre-Lutheran Bibles. In addition to the Martin Luther Bible 1522-1545, the Zurich Bible and the Low German Bible were also published around the same time." It was really Gutenberg, not Luther who enabled people to read the Bible. Before that, it was too expensive for the average person to own, although some did. And then maybe a week later I came across an article that St. Jerome wasn't the first to translate the Greek Bible into Latin (Latin Vulgate), also a move to enable people to read in their heart language and understand the Mass. It seems there were a number of Latin translations, but they weren't very good, so the Pope asked him to translate the definitive edition. One article said Jerome didn't use the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament used by Christians) and another said it was his primary source. I wouldn't want to get in the middle of that argument since it's probably political, but had believed he was the "first,"

Was Luther’s Bible the First German Language Bible? | Veracity (sharedveracity.net)

8 things to know about the Luther Bible – DW – 01/05/2022  If you read these 8 things, you would have no idea Luther wasn't the first to translate the Bible into the common language of the people (Germans).

Timeline - Jerome's Bible Legacy (christianity.com) One thing most articles agree on is that Jerome was a disagreeable, difficult to get along with, cranky scholar.  And he taught himself Hebrew in order to translate the Old Testament. 

The Vulgate: Jerome’s Latin Translation of the Hebrew Masoretic Text in 384 AD (bible.ca)

St. Jerome, the Vulgate, and Our Biblical Heritage - Ascension Press Media

The richest county in the U.S. hires Kendi to "educate"

Mega rich racist author Ibram X. Kendi spoke Wednesday evening at the Fairfax County Public Library in Virginia at the cost to tax payers of $22,500. No surprise. Librarians have been woke before radical racist groups came up with the term. When George W. Bush was president I used to blog about the lop sided anti-Bush books on the PL shelves in Upper Arlington, and the almost no selection of Christian books. Public libraries have been under-representing the public for decades, yet the publishing industry depends on their purchases to stay alive. If you did a little deeper, Fairfax Co. also spent about $24,000 on Kendi's books in 2020.

The median value of a home in Fairfax Co. is $595,000 (2021), median household income is $134,00, probably reflecting the high Asian population. In general, Asian is above the national average and white is below.

Library Pays Ibram X. Kendi $22,500 for Woke, ‘Anti-Racist’ Message (dailysignal.com)

Va. District Spent $24,000 On Ibram Kendi Books For U.S. History Classes (thefederalist.com)

Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout

The US arrested Abu Agila Masood, a resident of Libya, on the charge of carrying out the incident known as the Lockerbie Bombing. 270 died. 34 years ago. That's not as many people who have died as a result of the crimes of Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer Biden traded for a basketball player. Guns are OK now--let's remember that in Dems phony baloney blather about the 2nd Amendment. These decisions are never easy, but this one appears on the surface to be 110% political to shore up Biden's base. She was no national or international threat to anyone, just another celebrity violating another country's laws or customs. He, on the other hand, is a danger to people in all countries, including our own.

Dumb and dumber--the Democrats and Climate Change

In the 1960s, I was young and dumb. Can't believe the nonsense I fell for (or over) The Population Bomb was a 1968 book written by Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich and everyone I knew was reading it. Silent Spring came out i 1962, but I don't think it had the same impact, even though Rachel Carson's unproven, unscientific blather killed millions of African children. Ehrlich predicted horrible outcomes including food shortages. Well, we've got all the food we need to feed the world (actually did then too) and it's bad government policy that is starving or creating shortages today, not the climate. Look at what we're going to face with ESG, or what Netherlands and Sri Lanka are going through now not from a shortage of fertilizer, but from a government edict that they can't use it. Democrats are evil, Republicans are weak and useless, and our capitalist/corporate CEOs are rubbing their hands with glee. And although that's our party system, the global warming/climate change nonsense is world wide. Those who won't starve will probably freeze.

Transportation 100 years ago

When my mother was a little girl, her family still kept a carriage horse in the barn that did useful tasks like pulling their cars out of the muddy lanes that approached their graceful farm home two miles from the main road near Franklin Grove, Illinois. I believe she told me the children never rode "Beauty" because she hadn't been broken to ride. Because I was madly in love with horses, I couldn't imagine having a horse that close and NOT riding it. My maternal grandparents were "early adopters" and owned automobiles probably before 1910. Draft horses were still used in the fields because tractors weren't reliable enough, but I believe they were stabled at the tenant farm barn. My father's family in the next county, however, used draft horses regularly in farming. My father told me they sometimes rode one to church, the Pine Creek Church of the Brethren (now disbanded). Draft horses are so massive, so wide and so powerful, I have difficulty picturing this. My grandmother was blind and the four older children would have been quite small. But then, picturing her walking there with little ones doesn't read either. (repeat from 2005 blog about draft horses)

The redefinition of marriage

Ryan Bomberger, chief creative officer and co-founder of The Radiance Foundation (Radiance, www.radiance.life), commented on this “redefinition” of marriage, noting that if liberals are intent to define marriage merely by “who you love,” it follows that any kind of union counts as well.

Bomberger commented, “A handful of House and Senate Republicans have handed the Left a dangerous victory — the redefinition of the very institution that every civilization depends upon: marriage. The entirety of the Democratic Party voted to redefine what God designed. The Republicans who voted against their own Party platform, their constituents, the Constitution, and the institution of marriage helped to pass the (zero) Respect for Marriage Act. This bill sues those who won’t comply with a lie.

“The (zero) Respect for Marriage Act and the First Amendment cannot co-exist. They will always be at odds. This is evidenced by widespread Leftist efforts to force religious organizations and people of faith to bow to LGBTQ+ dogma or be fined, fired, de-platformed, sued and/or bankrupted. The ACLU and Lambda Legal have succeeded in shutting down faith-based adoption agencies for who they are (Christians) and who they love (vulnerable children who need a married mom and dad). In government-run schools, such as those where I live in Loudoun County, Virginia, LGBTQ indoctrination trumps reading, writing and arithmetic and students’ safety. Americans of faith, or even no faith, should be deeply concerned when a government starts dictating what we’re able to believe or speak.”

Bomberger continued, “Voters’ moral dissonance is resounding. Hollywood, news and social media have been relentless in swaying the majority (60%) of Americans to support same-sex marriage, yet half (50%) of those polled simultaneously fear the negative impact on religious liberty. Policies have consequences. Bad policies have casualties. What stops the radical Left from legalizing bigamy, polygamy, incestual unions, objectophilia, or marriages between children and adults?

“Love is love, right?”

Bomberger explained, “The legislation’s text starts off declaring: ‘No union is more profound than marriage.’ This is true. Marriage between one man and one woman — and the family (whether biological or adopted) created by that union — is the bedrock of every society. Sadly, that won’t stop a self-identifying ‘Catholic’ President Biden, who blatantly defies Catholic teachings on human sexuality and our fundamental right to life, from disrespecting and dismantling marriage.

“This is just another attempt by the radical Left and ‘Republicans in Name Only’ congressmen to try to control the language by changing the very meaning of words. They also bolster their false ‘equality’ claims by hitching ‘race’ to ‘sexual orientation’ and pretending that marriages like mine (my wife is Greek/Italian, and I’m Nigerian/Ukrainian) are in any way threatened. Marriages of people of different hues of skin are not comparable, at all, to the redefinition of marriage that accommodates two men, two women, and what will eventually have to include polygamous unions or anything else that falls under the #LoveIsLove banner.

“Section 6 of the bill (which acknowledges the First Amendment’s individual religious freedom and conscience protections) actually contradicts the entire purpose of the law which forces persons ‘acting under color of State’ to comply or be sued. Americans who work for the government, like our brave men and women in the military who protect our freedoms, don’t lose their Constitutional rights. There is predictable irony that a ‘progressive’ bill that claims to provide equal protection under the law proudly treats millions of Americans unequally.”

Balenciaga's bad decision and poor apology

Balenciaga promoting the sexual abuse of children in its ads is bad, bad, bad. That said, how low does the New York Times have to be to blow it off as just another conspiracy by prudes and right wingers? Lower than a snake's belly? Lower than all the perps in the Metoo movement? Lower than all the cancel culture idiots? You may read that NYT fish wrapper; perhaps you buy products it advertises; maybe you know someone who works there. Give it up. If this is the best the old grey lady can do, she needs to be put out for pasture. So of course it didn't report on the Hunter Biden laptop and lied about Trump for 4 years + and went along with all the crazy conspiracies cooked up by the left during the pandemic.
Here's the first line, the lead. "Two new Balenciaga campaigns ignited a firestorm that traveled from the internet to Fox News, fueled by allegations that the brand condoned child exploitation." Notice, they got Fox News in the first sentence, and used the Inflammatory line "fueled by allegations." If you even saw the photos, that's no allegation. That's a slam dunk indictment. So much so, Balenciaga is suing the production company for $25 million in the NY supreme court!

 
The production company isn't to blame, the cameramen weren't to blame, the designers weren't to blame, not the costumers, not the light crew, the child models weren't to blame . . .( but their parents should start parenting classes). Who are to blame--first the people at the top, and not their sub-contractors. Also that ever present, group on the left that has been ripping apart any last shred of decency and history where sex, sexuality, biology, tradition, family, and human relationships are involved. That group is right up there advising your president and his administration about locker rooms, pronouns, athletic events, and court cases involving male/female in America.

And look at the take of CNN. The focus is on the image in the ad of the Supreme Court 2008 case on child porn, not on the disgusting images of the children! I guess because the owners are French they just didn't know what they were looking at? Hello! what about the kids! That might have been a clue. This wasn't "bad judgement" is the culture that is being promoted and pushed every day from the drag queen story hours to the hairy muscular athletes chasing ribbons on the girls' teams.

Balenciaga ads are a symptom of a deadly disease attacking our kids | Fox News

Balenciaga apologises for ads featuring bondage bears and child abuse papers | Balenciaga | The Guardian

https://whdh.com/news/balenciaga-suing-production-company-for-25-million-over-controversial-campaign/

Brittney Grinner

We're always happy when an American can be released from a foreign prison. Too bad Joe left so many behind in Viet Nam in 1975 and again in Afghanistan in 2021--sort of takes the sheen off the glory he'll be strutting.

From Saigon to Kabul: Biden?s response to Vietnam echoes in his views of Afghanistan withdrawal - The Washington Post

Immunity debt

" Immunity debt is not a new idea, though the specific coinage is fairly recent (and some experts bicker over the specifics of what the phrase does and does not mean). Its painful lesson has been learned by American honeymooners who drink the tap water in Cancún, Nigerian Americans who skip malaria prophylaxis while visiting their cousins outside Abuja, and unvaccinated seniors who were hospitalized from COVID-19 while their boosted peers suffered a mere head cold. At its heart, immunity debt is Immunology 101: Hosts whose immune systems haven’t been properly primed are more prone to infection and severe disease."

It seems there's a price to pay for all that unnecessary masking of children the last 2.5 years.

https://slate.com/technology/2022/12/immunity-debt-explainer-rsv-covid-masking.html

Joe Biden worsens the danger for children--Why do Democrats support him?

 " . . . when a school strives to create a “safe, welcoming, and inclusive” environment for transgender-identified students, it greatly increases the chance that children who might otherwise go through a temporary stage of identity exploration or confusion will reject their bodies in favor of a risky experimental medical protocol."

The School-to-Clinic Pipeline | City Journal (city-journal.org)

Art show reception this Sunday

 Reception December 11, 2022, 2-4 p.m.

Bob and Norma, married for 62 years and UALC members since 1976, have both been painting since 1972 and this show is the story of their years together with a few samples of their watercolors and acrylics. Both were interested in art as children, but only Bob pursued it as a career and avocation. Norma enjoyed a library career. He became an architect with fine arts and design classes in high school and college, plus some classes at an art institute as a child. Norma had the family dining room table with art supplies and paper, but no classes. Her teachers in kindergarten and first grade “featured” her art of a May pole dance, and horses were scribbled in the margins of school papers and books. The Bruces met at the University of Illinois in 1959 and married in 1960, but art really wasn’t a focus. Bob’s interest in painting was rekindled by his friend Ned Moore in 1972, so he dug out his old brushes from college art classes. That piqued Norma’s interest so she began taking a few workshops with local artists and later at Lakeside. 

They’ve chosen paintings that tell about their lives. In the library lounge are some stories about Illinois where Norma grew up and where they vacationed with their children, Phoebe and Phil, in the 1960s-70s. Norma’s mother had renovated her parents’ farm home in the 1960s near Franklin Grove, Illinois, as a retreat center and the Bruce family enjoyed roaming northern Illinois looking for farm scenes to paint. Included are paintings of family, two by Bob of Phil who died in 2020, Norma’s childhood friends and family from the 1940s, and her paternal grandmother in her wedding dress. Norma’s grandparents owned the Lustron in Mt. Morris on the postcard. It then was purchased years later by her father after her mother died in 2000.

 
In the hall in keeping with the rural and farm theme in the library lounge they’ve hung some flowers and vegetables, although they don’t garden. These are usually from a workshop at Lakeside or a “how to” book. Also in the hall are paintings of animals—Norma particularly liked horses, and owned one as a youngster (no paintings of him).

Also in the hall they’ve included paintings of travels after retirement in Ireland, Israel, Egypt, Alaska, and Spain—two borrowed from the current owners for this show. Bob went with the UALC mission group to Haiti for 10 years and taught architecture there. At the library door is Bob’s painting of three children from Westerville who were neighbors at Lakeside reading their Bible together. They are homeschooled and Bob helped with their art instruction. Also you’ll see Bob’s paintings of two UALC pastors who’ve had a big place in their lives.

 
The Bruce family began vacationing at Lakeside on Lake Erie in 1974 and owned a summer home there from 1988 to 2022. Paintings from those years are in the Fireside Lounge. Bob taught many classes at the Rhein Arts Center in Lakeside and both took advantage of the classes in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, jewelry making, silk painting and pottery. Bob has been in the Lakeside summer art show for over 40 years and in 2021 published a book of his Lake Erie paintings.

 
1. Driftwood, Lakeside - Norma
2. Lakeside Transportation - Norma
3. Romancing the Freighter, Lakeside - Norma
4. Bring Three Friends, Lakeside - Norma
5. Marblehead Lighthouse - Norma
6. Post cards of Lakeside – Norma
7. Ice Cream More Ice Cream, Lakeside – Robert
8. Lakeside Women’s Club – Robert
9. Werden’s Porch, Lakeside – Robert
10. Lighthouse Spiral Staircase, Marblehead – Robert
11. Mouse Island Race, Lakeside – Robert
12. Lakeside Orchestra – Robert
13. Keeping Watch, Norma’s father, 1944 – Norma
14. Playmates, Forreston, 1946 – Norma
15. Grandma’s Wedding Dress, 1912 - Norma
16. Phoebe and Phil at the Marblehead Lighthouse - Norma
17. Snow Horse, Forreston, 1950 - Norma
18. Shuffleboard at Lakeside, 1974 - Norma
19. Phil Bruce with Guitar, 2018 - Robert
20. Phil Bruce, 2012 - Robert
21. Daysville Road Farm, Franklin Grove, 1974 - Norma
22. Olive in her Garden, Franklin Grove - Robert
23. Red Barns Vignette, Franklin Grove - Robert
24. Whitney House, Franklin Grove - Robert
25. Reflection no Horizon, 1974, painted at Franklin Grove farm - Robert
26. Red Geraniums in Brown Pot - Norma
27. Pink Geraniums - Norma
28. White Daisies – Norma
29. Squash in a Bowl – Norma

30. Vegetables on Lace – Norma

31. Purple Iris – Norma 

32. Jackie’s Daffodils - Norma 

33. Hall Children Reading their Bible -Robert 

34. Pastor Dave Drumel - Robert 

35. Pastor Paul Ulring - Robert 

36. Mendenhall Glacier, 2001 – Robert 

37. Camel and Pyramids, 2009 – Robert 

38. Wailing Wall, Jerusalem, 2009 – Robert 

39. Haitian Girl, Ouanaminthe, Haiti – Robert 

40. Ireland Landscape, 2007 – Robert 

41. Street Scene, Grenada Spain, 2015 - Robert 

42. Postcards of Alaska, 2001 – Norma 

43. Bay Horse, 1974 – Norma 

44. Mustang – Norma 

45. Cat on a Hot Pink Porch, Lakeside – Norma 

46. Baby Duck – Norma 4

47. The Plaza, Grenada Spain, 2015 – Robert 

48. Corbett Lustron, Mt. Morris, 2001 – Norma 

49. Mark fishing at Lakeside, 2022—Robert 

50. Friend fishing at Lakeside, 2022—Robert

 #38

 #21 

Walking backwards

 This is supposed to have health benefits, but I know I would fall down.  But there was a day when I could do it. https://weather.com/health/video/walking-backward-may-have-surprising-health-benefits

Pesky little weasels

 You’ve heard of weasel words? Here’s a few weasel phrases to watch for. Usually, they mean some version of “it’s my opinion,” or “I want you to agree with me” or even, “shut up, dummy.” And although I have heard conservatives say these phrases, usually they are the territory of liberals. Liberals love the words "dialogue" and "conversation," but it's often a monologue or a lecture. My own failure is  adverbs. We need to break up.  You can call me on it.

“Some would argue. . .”
“We need a conversation on . . .”
“Research shows . . .”
“Let’s have a dialogue. . .”

Remembering her Dad, Bob Poisal

A lovely tribute from our niece Julie Kelle, remembering our brother in law, her dad.

"One year ago today I lost my step dad. Very few men are willing to be a father to another man's children. I also lost my biological dad in 2004. I know it is confusing when I use the words "my dad" you don't know which dad I'm talking about. I never liked calling my step father "step" father because he was "my" dad. He was the man that "stepped" up and became that fatherly role model me and my little sister were so longing in our heart. I'm so glad "I picked him" and glad he picked us back.

 
Dad was the hero of the family and a person that was always available to help family, friend stranger, or foe. He was the best at handling emergencies, the best at cleaning up sickness messes, the best jack-of-all-trades. My dad was the best. He came into our lives at the perfect time.

Please remember my mom,  my little sister Joan, and her husband Dan , his surviving biological children Richard , Robert and Luann, his brother Mike, and all his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our dad, husband, brother, grandpa was the very best and he is greatly missed for he was always a main part of all our lives and holidays. We need your prayers. 

Someday we appear like we are doing good but inside we are still struggling.

 
My heart and prayers go out to each and everyone of you who that have lost a loved one that God will send the "Comforter" until we can be with our loved ones again.

"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." "

Robert Lee Poisal Obituary 2021 - Indiana Funeral Care

The Cat who Saved Books

I just finished The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa and we're discussing it at Book Club this afternoon. Here's my take, which probably no one will agree with. The grandfather could have been anyone other than a Used Book store owner.  Perhaps he could have been a former coach in professional baseball or a retired horse trainer--who has developed a different or related business to his career. His death devasted Rintaro--love, caring, wisdom and security are gone leaving him frightened and empty. The cat and two other adolescents, Sayo and Ryota, from his school come into his life of grief and insecurity as well as odd experiences with adults in a fantasy world with a talking cat. He experiences compassion and empathy, which help him develop courage and a sense of self. Really, it's about relationships, not books, which is why I decided no books need be abused in this story. The cat, yes.

Our parents

In the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom wrote, "Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.”

Full court press

 Indictments for Trump.

 Conspiracy theories about Musk. 

More Billions for Ukraine with no accountability. 

Wide open borders, and if you disagree you're a racist. 

Hating on DeSantis ramped up. 

Weasel words from Disney CEO. 

People against child sexual abuse are prudes. 

And finally, old Uncle Joe is quoting his grandfather again.

Even when they Factcheck they lie.

John Kirby: "“The president has issued 9,000 permits for drilling on U.S. federal lands, Peter, 9,000 of them being unused. There are plenty of opportunities for oil and gas companies to drill here in the United States.” [This is known as gaslighting.] . . .

Biden himself pioneered the claim about 9,000 permits in March, though pointing to permits as a way to blame supposedly lazy and greedy oil companies dates back to Bill Clinton. “It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production,” Biden insisted. “[Oil companies] have 9,000 permits to drill now. They could be drilling right now, yesterday, last week, last year.”

 
PolitiFact rated his bogus claim “mostly true.” . . and then explained . . . Oil companies don’t receive a permit and immediately fire up a drill later that afternoon. A lot of evaluation, exploration, and ramp up is needed because a permit doesn’t mean there’s oil in them there hills. Many of those leases are simply there to run out the 10-year clock because companies can’t extract anything. Biden blocked drilling in ANWR, where oil companies know there’s oil. " via Patriot Post, Dec. 1, 2022

https://patriotpost.us/articles/93227-the-truth-about-those-9000-oil-permits-2022-12-01

Respect for Marriage Act does not Respect the First Amendment

There is nothing in the respect marriage act that protects marriage. It was already protected in a 2015 SCOTUS decision. What it does do is weaken the first amendment which guarantees religious freedom--makes it easier and legal to attack citizens whose religious beliefs are that marriage is between one man and one woman. It could be Christian, or a religion you've never heard of, since the definition of marriage in all cultures has always been between a man and woman, even if some had polygamy or polyandry.  Don't be whiffed by any mention of church or non-profits; religious freedom means you don't have to be in a church to believe, worship or pray. The last two years have shown us that churches can't protect us. It created what is called a "private right of action" for anyone to sue any government agency, official, contractor, or partner who did not recognize gay marriage. It could, in other words, become a gay marriage lawsuit machine. Republicans have stabbed us in the back again. Sensible amendments were rejected.

Health problems for trans people

 Before someone with gender dysphoria decides he needs to be a she to solve his problems, he might take a look at the health problems, either before or after, listed by Cleveland Clinic Transgender Health Services.  To the casual observer, it would seem the first step is to fix the problem before cutting off body parts. And after all that "screening" is finished (see below), then what? 

Metabolic conditions: These conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes (glucose intolerance), liver dysfunction, and high cholesterol (dyslipidemia), can develop as a result of long-term hormone therapy (both estrogen and testosterone).

Obesity and heart disease: Transgender men and women have a slightly higher rate of obesity. Compounded with their long-term hormone use and higher rate of tobacco use, routine screening for heart disease is necessary.

Cancer: Transgender women (male-to-female) should have cancer screening for cancers of the breast, prostate, and anus. Screening for cancer of the reproductive organs should also be done for all symptomatic transgender men. Transgender men (female-to-male) should also need cancer screening for cancers of the breast, cervix, and anus, depending upon anatomy and stage of transition.

Alcohol and illicit substance abuse: Population studies have shown that the rate of substance abuse is higher in the transgender community than in the general population, and patients should routinely be screened for alcohol and illicit substance abuse. As such, patients should also be offered counseling and education regarding substance abuse and risk-taking behaviors.

Tobacco use: Population studies also show that transgender men and women have higher rates of tobacco use than the general population, and patients should be screened for this and provided with counseling and education about smoking cessation.

Depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): These medical illnesses occur at higher rates among transgender and non-binary individuals, often because of poor social supports, trauma, and challenges accessing affirming and knowledgeable providers. These conditions should be screened for regularly and be addressed by medical providers.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS: Individuals who use drugs and other substances and have condomless sex are at risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS. Patients who present with these risk factors should be screened for these infections and offered HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) if medically appropriate.

Who are the bad guys?

Can we talk? About hypocrisy?

I've never heard of that guy Nick Fuentes who's a "white supremacist" that Trump invited to his home. That said, the Democrats have been calling 80,000,000 Americans who voted for Trump racist, homophobic, Nazis for a number of years. So which is it? Only one or two guys? Are they more foul, evil and disrespectful of half of Americans than the ladies on the view, who disrespected black, white and gay? Didn't one of those mega-rich people dress in black face (as a costume) and one dissed the Jews? Democrats call every one white supremacists--even parents who want to know why there are boys using their daughters' locker rooms. Even people who won't bow to their little dictator, Fauci.

And hasn't the U.S. been doing business for decades (beginning with Nixon) with the Chinese Communist Party? The CCP killed probably 10x the number of their own citizens in the 20th century than Hitler did. And doesn't the CCP run concentration camps right now for their own Uyghur citizens who are Muslims? Isn't it an American company "woke" Nike who has contracts with slave labor for shoes? For SHOES! So now, across the board--CNN or Fox, and all the conservative bloggers and podcasters--they are running away from Trump. Let's line up the victims; who has done more damage and killed more people, our trading partners the Chinese or Ke and Nick?

Asking for a friend.

A Brethren group I didn't know about

 I was baptized on Palm Sunday, 1950, in the Mt. Morris, Illinois Church of the Brethren and have been a Lutheran (in 3 synods but same congregation and building) since 1976 when we were confirmed. I've watched from the sidelines what has been happening in the different Brethren groups from the original small group in 1708.  Today I came across a new split--the Old German Baptist Brethren New Conference. There seems to be a disagreement about foreign missions.

"On the heels of the Protestant Reformation, in 1708 a handful of believers under Anabaptist and Pietistic influence, embarked upon a journey of faith seeking a deeper reformation of doctrine and practice. Seeking a life that followed the Scriptures more literally, eight souls were baptized by immersion in the Eder River in Schwarzenau, Germany. This was a radical departure from the state churches’ practice of infant baptism. With a genuine desire to live the New Testament, these brethren were led to practices such as the Love Feast including feet-washing, the agape meal, and the emblematic bread and cup, non-resistance, the refusal to take an oath, and the practice of the holy kiss.

The group grew in Germany and Holland and migrated to America in the 1700’s establishing congregations beginning near Germantown, Pennsylvania. From there the Brethren migrated to Virginia and the West growing to a fellowship of approximately 70,000 members. In 1881, a small portion of these members, calling themselves Old German Baptists, separated from the larger group in a quest for a more godly and simple life. From this body of believers, the New Conference emerged in 2009." https://www.ogbbc.org/about

My relatives, the Shumans, who live near or in Pendelton, Indiana are members of the Old German Baptist Brethren, and this article is about them, presented by cousin Lois at the Pendleton Museum.  I see nothing about New Conference.  So I don't know how the churches decided which group to go with.  

"Addressing about 30 attendees, Shuman said the Christian religion was first organized in Germany in 1708.

The ruler of Germany at the time was tolerant to new religions, but when a later, less tolerant ruler took over, the German Baptists moved on to the Netherlands.

In 1719, the first members brought their religion to the United States. Like the followers of many other religions at the time, they settled in Pennsylvania, where William Penn had promised religious freedom, she said.

Old German Baptists are neither Catholic nor Protestant. They are recognized as Anabaptist.

Anabaptists establish rules that are to be strictly followed by the members of their sect, she said. Old German Baptists believe the newer sects are too progressive in their thinking.

The first group reached Pendleton in 1791.

“There are still descendants of the first families in our congregation today,” Shuman said.

Because the religious groups were so spread out in the state, one minister may have an area of 30 square miles to cover.

“It doesn’t sound like much now, said Shuman, but imagine how bad the roads were in the 1800s.”

About half of the Old German Baptists still live in Indiana and Ohio.

After Shuman’s talk there were many questions from the attendees.

She said her religion does not prohibit use of new technologies like some faiths. She has electricity, a microwave and many other modern comforts.

Shuman used a laptop during her presentation.

“We accept modern technology as long as it doesn’t get in the way of Christian living.”

She did point out that they do not have TVs, radios or the internet. She said “a computer without the internet is just a fancy typewriter.”

She uses her “fancy typewriter for her job with IU. While Shuman does have a phone, it is not a smart phone.

“I am able to text on my phone, but it’s a lot of work,” Shuman said with a laugh.

Church members do not vote or participate in government.

They are conscientious objectors and do not file or defend themselves in a lawsuit.

Children are encouraged to finish high school but for the most part are steered away from college, she said. They feel that college will cause children to question their beliefs.

Church services are different from what others might accustomed to seeing.

Meetings start with singing. There are no musical instruments.

“The minister reads the verse and the congregation sings it,” Shuman said.

There could be as many as five ministers for each service.

Ministers are appointed for life.

Normally, men and women sit on different sides of the church, but this is not a strict rule.

Old German Baptists have been called Dunkards and Tunkers. These names were used because they believe in full immersion baptism.

A person can become a member as soon as they reach the age of accountability, usually late teens or early 20s.

Children are encouraged to marry within the congregation.

Shuman said they have a 50% to 70% retention rate in their church.

Most women make their own clothes. Shuman said the cape is for modesty.

“When I became a member, I thought the dress was going to be very hot, but I got used to it, Shuman said.

Men wear plain coats and button-up shirts. Members of the ministry have a beard without a mustache. It is encouraged but not required among the membership.

Shuman finished her presentation by stating, “Everyone is welcome to visit our church.”" https://www.pendletontimespost.com/2022/03/10/history-talk-explores-old-german-baptist-beliefs/

Remembering the good old days before the church went high tech

This is an old photo taken at UALC on Thanksgiving Day--maybe 10 years ago. I don't know what's happening at your church or how other Christians stock food pantries for the poor, but I miss the days of this photo. Now in November we pick up smallish, printed bags with a list of ingredients/food items that will NOT be brought to the front of the church, but quietly whisked off to Lutheran Social Services for the food pantry before the actual holiday. Forgive me staff and pastors, but I think the "high tech, high touch" church has lost even "the touch," the personal involvement, and now it's all about making sure we follow the rules and check the church web page. In seasons past, I usually picked up $10-20 of non-perishable goods a week at the supermarket during November and put them in bags I kept in the kitchen. It helped me think about those who needed help. We were told how much more the food pantry could buy if we just wrote a check. But I also liked the idea I was supporting a local business who employed people who were taking the bus from parts of the city we suburbanites never see, or the truckers out on the free-ways, or the warehouse employees, or those who work in the processing factories and on farms to make sure we all can over-eat on a holiday. Call me crazy, but I liked seeing bags of groceries at the altar. I never remembered the sermon, but I knew my story.

How do you fix Tilapia?

I asked my Facebook friends:

"On Monday we had Tilapia for lunch. Bob came upstairs (studio on lower level) and said, "Something smells fishy." So I sprayed some air freshener and lit one of those stinky candles scented like apple pie. Now the house really smells strange, and it's been 3 days.

Tilapia is virtually tasteless. How do you fix it?"

• Jane said: I discovered a seasoning that I use on all meats and fish. It is delicious! You can get it from Amazon. Here is the name of it. Kinder's Premium Quality Organic Seasoning
• Joan wrote: I don’t like fish. I eat it because I know I should. Tilapia and Salmon are two of the few I don’t hate.
• Sue commented: Boil cinnamon in water or bake cookies! Takes over smells.
• Debbie chimed in: I bought some from Costco already marinated and seasoned. Just bake. Really enjoyed it. Don't remember house smelling fishy.
• Judy replied: I use Chef Paul Prudhomme's Cajun blackening spice mix on most every fish I cook. other than salmon.
• James suggested: I cook a lot of fish the way I get rid of the smell is I take vinegar and water and boil it while I'm cooking the fish works every time.
• Keith (who is a great chef) offered: Lemon paprika salt butter. Blacken/broil

Checking the Internet for an old friend

 Today I was cleaning out a drawer and found a stack of papers with old addresses.  In the stack was a 1987 letter from a friend I was intensely involved with in 1986. She lived in Upper Arlington, and although our children didn't date or even run in the same circle, they knew each other and went to the same high school. She had moved to Texas, so it was a catch-up letter with a 22 cent stamp and she promised to stay in touch.  Obviously, we didn't, because I hadn't thought of her in years.  So I of course turned to the internet.  She had a double surname, hyphenated with her husband's, which made the search easier. I found her professional activities and position in several places, the last being Washington. She was listed as a marriage counselor and other specialties, although I don't think she was a professional when I knew her. I recall she was getting some sort of accreditation for addiction counseling.  I looked at her photo (sort of looked like her), and in the final site I found she was using only her maiden name.  Still, I can't imagine she's still working at age 83--I don't know how old some of these web sites are, but the last one I could find had a 2020 blog which referred to the pandemic and the mental problems it was causing.  These problems for which one might need counseling were listed under her name:

Addictions
Abandonment and Rejection Issues
Abuse – Sexual, Emotional or Physicial [sic]
Adult Children of Alcoholics
Alcohol Abuse
Anger Management
Anxiety and Panic
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Codependency
Family of Origin Issues
Inaction/Indecision
Life Issues/Transitions
Low Self Worth
Martial and Relationship Issues
Obsessive/Compulsive Issues
Parenting Issues
Post Traumatic Stress
Spiritual Issues
Stress Management
Trauma
Workplace Issues

This is not the kind of work I would want to take home every night--not at 83.  I'll keep looking.  I did find an e-mail address.

I also found a letter from 1983 from a friend who'd been through a divorce.  Too bad I couldn't have gotten them together--the counselor and the grieving ex-husband.

When God visited, Sean of the South, Nov. 23, 2022

You probably didn’t hear about it. But yesterday, God visited earth.

Contrary to what you’ve heard, God is a big fan of people. He’s a huge fan. In fact, that’s why he came.

His visit was an under-the-radar thing. It was non-publicized. God wasn’t in it for press.

First, he came to Birmingham, Alabama. Of all places.

He stepped into a sleepy hospital corridor last night, and wandered the aisles barefoot. He stopped in the room of a little girl with terminal brain cancer.

The little girl was sleeping. He touched her bald little head. She never even knew he was there. All she knew was that she was dreaming of “angels and stuff.”

When the little girl awoke, something wonderful had happened. Something almost too impossible to believe.

Her mother was seated beside her bed. Asleep in her chair. The little girl sat upright. She stretched her arms. She yawned. She remarked how good she felt. Doctors checked her out. They couldn’t believe she felt “good.”

Because for the last six months, the child has felt like heck. For the last six months, the little girl has been dying. But today, something had shifted. All the treatments. All the therapy. Something was working.

Turns out, the scans the doctor sent away had come back all clear. The child okay. Not just a-little-bit okay. She is totally fine. No traces of cancer. Not a single bit. This child will live.

“My baby will live,” said her mother.

After that, God went to Oklahoma City. It’s not clear how he got there. Maybe he took a Greyhound. Maybe he flew. Maybe God doesn’t take public transportation. Maybe he just did the Star Trek thing, and beamed himself up.

Either way, he landed in a little town outside Oklahoma City. A dusty town which shall remain nameless, because it is small, and everyone knows everyone’s business.

There was an old man who was was suicidal. He is Cherokee. He was locked in his bathroom. He had the gun. He was going to do it. Really going to do it.

But then something warm washed all over him and told him, in an audible voice, “Don’t do it. Rachel drew you a picture.”

He stepped out of his bathtub when he heard the phone ring. It was his granddaughter. She was Facetiming him.

“Hey Grandpa,” said the 6-year-old child. “I called because I just drew you a picture.”

Her name is Rachel.

Then God then traveled to Oregon. The 33rd state. A state with rainforests, mountains and harsh deserts. God must have taken a pretty fast plane because he got there in just the nick of time.

There was a young man named Rob who was having a heart attack in his home. Rob is 26. He was standing in his hallway, and he was so scared. It’s not every day a 26-year-old collapses in his hallway, clutching his chest in terror.

“Don’t let me die, God,” Rob uttered.

When he woke up, he was in the ICU. The doctors said he had been dead for several minutes before they revived him.

His mother, who was sitting beside his hospital bed asked what he’d seen when he was clinically dead.

Rob said, “I just met my father.”

The young man’s father has been dead since he was a toddler. He’s only seen pictures.

“What did he say to you?” his mother asked.

“He said something about Baltimore, Maryland.”

His mother started crying.

“Why are you crying, Mom?” the kid asked.

“I never told you this, but your father asked me to marry him in Baltimore.”

Listen, I don’t know where this letter finds you tonight. I don’t know what you’re doing right now, or where you are spending Thanksgiving.

I don’t know whether you’re happy or sad. I don’t care whether you’re religious or not. Thanksgiving is one day away. And I don’t give the tiniest crap what you’ve heard, I want you to know that no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, God is your biggest fan.

I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving this year.

Thanksgiving - Sean of the South (seandietrich.com)

Continental Congress Thanksgiving Proclamation

The first proclamation in the independent United States was issued by John Hancock as President of the Continental Congress as a day of fasting on March 16, 1776. The first national Thanksgiving was celebrated on December 18, 1777, and the Continental Congress issued National Thanksgiving Day proclamations each year between 1778 and 1784. The one I read today for my devotions was The Congressional Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1779. An on-line search reveals many such proclamations, including those from colonies, states, Congress and presidents. The importance of God comes and goes in these government documents, with President Trump the winner with 29 in only one term. Nixon and Ford didn't mention God at all in one of theirs. In number, because he had 4 terms, FDR said the most about God in Thanksgiving proclamations. But over the years, the theme of the Thanksgiving proclamations from our Presidents shifted from thanking and petitioning God to extolling American values.

(from the 1779 document) " . . . to beseech him that he would be graciously pleased to influence our public councils, and bless them with wisdom from on high, with unanimity, firmness, and success; that he would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory; that he would grant to his Church the plentiful effusions of divine grace, and pour out his Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that he would bless and prosper the means of education, and spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; . . . "

The hero military veteran who saved lives in the Colorado club

Guy Benson (gay conservative Fox host/podcaster) told a very moving story about the military vet who tackled and beat up the shooter at the gay nightclub. Sounds like he beat him on the head with his own gun, and grabbed a drag queen to step on him with his spike heels. Guy described him as an absolute hero. But what if he'd killed him while saving many other lives? You wonder what the media would have done about a straight military vet killing a binary shooter that uses a plural pronoun in a gay club. He was there with his family, and his daughter's boyfriend was among the dead.

Here in Columbus a policeman in 2019 saved a young black girl from another black girl Ma'Khia Bryant threatening her with a knife. The girls were in the same foster home. The policeman was accused of racism and investigated even though he saved their lives. Sports and TV "celebrities" of course sided with the attacker with sayhername postings, and photos. Just like George Floyd.

Colorado Springs shooting: Army veteran speaks out about disarming Club Q gunman, says 'I tried to finish him' | Fox News

In the mail Saturday

This was the U.S. mail that comes through the front door. An appeal from Planned Parenthood to send money to kill more babies and provide more kids with chemicals to change their fertility options for life, and an appeal from Pregnancy Decision Health Centers (PDHC) to send money to save babies and their mothers. Hmmm. We're assessing our end of the year donations. Not a tough decision. Death to babies, or life for babies.

Longevity in women

I was reading an article on longevity in women. In addition to questions about menopause, age at first pregnancy etc., the questionnaire included questions on smoking and drinking. The alcohol question completely baffled me. It made no sense,

“Alcohol use was assessed using a health-seeking behavior questionnaire during the physical assessment. The question was “Do you try to avoid the use of alcohol?” The answers were “don’t try at all,” “try a little,” or “try a lot.” “

I was thinking how I would answer. I had a 6 oz. glass of red wine on November 4 and November 18 with dinner in a restaurant. That’s it. So am I “trying to avoid it” or am I “trying a lot to avoid it?” I didn’t order a 12 oz. or a second or third glass. There was no trying going on at all—I just know if I want to walk out of the restaurant rather than be carried out, I’ll just have one small glass. 

 The people being asked were centenarians born between 1881-1895 (study began in 1988). Those ladies were probably too polite to tell the researchers that they made no sense. And really, if a 105 year old woman wants a little libation, who is going to say, “It’s not good for your health, Grammy?”

When I looked through the “Discussion” section of the paper (2017) it used the weasel words meaning they didn’t find anything so therefore it needed more study. I did see one sentence that jumped out at me which they didn’t pursue at all: “ The introduction of “the Pill” [artificial hormones] in 1960 caused the fertility of women to change forever.” I wonder what else it has changed, don’t you? Maybe 3 generations of women on the pill produce a 4th who is a 10 year old who is confused about whether she’s a boy or girl?

Relationship of Fertility, Lifestyle, and Longevity Among Women | The Journals of Gerontology: Series A | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

St. Ephrem on how God speaks through metaphors

St. Ephrem often speaks of God as "clothing himself in names (or metaphors)" in the Old Testament, as a prelude to his 'clothing himself in the human body' at the Incarnation. But we should not abuse God's condescension in making himself known to humanity in this way by taking these metaphors literally:

Let us give thanks to God who clothed himself in the names of the body's various parts:

Scripture refers to his 'ears', to teach us that he listens to us;

it speaks of his 'eyes', to show that he sees us.

It was just the names of such things that he put on.

Although in his true Being there is no wrath or regret,

yet he put on these names too, because of our weakness.

We should realize that, if he had not put on the names of such things.

it would not have been possible for him to speak with us humans:

he drew close to us by means of what belongs, to us; he clothed himself in our language,

so that , he might-clothe us ...in his mode of life.

He asked for our form (Philippians 2:7) and put this on;

then, as a father with his children, he spoke with our childish state.

It is our metaphors that he put on— though he did not literally do so!

He then took them off— without actually doing so:

when wearing them, he was at the same time stripped of them;

he puts one on when it is beneficial,

then strips it off to exchange it for another!

The fact that he strips off and puts on all sorts of metaphors

tells us that the metaphor does not apply to his true Being;

because that Being is hidden, he has depicted it by means of what is visible

(Hymns on Faith 31:1-3) St. Ephrem, d. 373

The Bible in the Syriac Tradition by Sebastian P. Brock, p. 56-57
https://archive.org/details/TheBibleInTheSyriacTradition/page/n1/mode/1up?view=theater

Now thank we all our God, story of a favorite hymn

I confess. I had zero European history classes in college. So I'll take a non-recommended stop at Wikipedia for the 30 Years War, 1618-48. There are better, more complete sources--but it was 30 years, so I won't look for them.

"The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War."

I did learn in high school (1950s) that it was a religious war, but more recent scholarship has called it political. But Protestant and Catholic monarchs were certainly fighting each other. Based on the size of populations at that time, I'd guess not until the Communists killed 100 million in the 20th century was there a war that took such a large percent of the population. Famine and disease also contributed to the death toll in the 17th c.

I mention this because the beautiful hymn we usually sing on Thanksgiving Day, "Now thank we all our God," by Martin Rinkart (a Lutheran pastor) was written during this terrible war. At the height of the plague of 1637 he was the only minister left in his city to care for the sick and dying. If he could thank God at that terrible time in history, so can we.

Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things has done,
in whom his world rejoices;

who from our mothers' arms
has blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son and Spirit blest,
who reign in highest heaven
the one eternal God,
whom heaven and earth adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

English translation Catherine Winkworth

Shooting at the gay night club

 Did you know that the man who killed the people in the gay club in Colorado along with the limp criminal system that let him roam the streets to murder despite his record of violence are not to blame? No. No. The media hardly mention that. They point to Matt Walsh, Tucker Carlson and Christopher Ruffo--outspoken child protectors who regularly publish and report on breast amputation and castration of children in the name of "queer theory." There are also drag queen and queer non-profits feeding their lies to the media.

Children don't drive themselves to the library to sit and watch men dressed in drag read stories about rainbows and confused toddlers. The libraries (very liberal) and their parents (confused) do that--suckers for the organized well-financed trans and queer (their word, not mine) agenda. Actually, those defenders of children (Tucker, Ruffo, Walsh) are defending our Democracy--to use a phrase the leftists have stolen from us. They are using their first amendment rights to call out a crime against children and a crime against humanity and a crime against civilization. A crime that until about 10 years ago, was recognized by all civilized people. Now the WH Resident recommends it and our usually incoherent non-verbal Vice Harris lauds it.

 
Soon we won't be able to use logic and Constitutional rights against this crime, just like the I-word and the H-word in fighting the c-word pandemic.

P.S. The man who murdered these people changed his name--male to male--because he had a criminal record. He had threatened to "harm his mother with "a homemade bomb, multiple weapons and ammunition," according to a news release from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office in Colorado Springs." But the Democrats and their lap dancing media mavens want to blame those trying to save children--from the womb to the library story hour.

2nd P.S.  Now he's "come out" as non binary.

Colorado suspect changed name, cited fear of dad (arkansasonline.com)

Colorado Springs LGBTQ club shooting suspect identifying as non-binary in court documents (msn.com)

Words are violence, unless spoken by Democrats and the Left

When a homeless, Canadian alien who crossed our porous southern border, hits Nancy Pelosi's husband in the head with a hammer even after Pelosi answered his door and let the police in, the Democrats blame Republicans, Trump supporters and even Donald Trump! Not a word from Democrats that San Francisco, a sanctuary city, has become a cesspool under her watch, or a peep about no care for the mentally ill, or the fact the home was being "guarded" by Capitol police which Mrs. Pelosi oversees.

Democrats denied that Rand Paul when attacked in his own yard was in danger, and laughed at his pain and suffering--especially Pelosi's daughter, who said "His neighbor was right." He could have died and he had lung surgery. Yet the attacker Rene Boucher got a misdemeanor charge and the Pelosi attacker is being charged with attempted kidnapping of a Congress person or something ridiculous plus other serious charges because the victim was a Pelosi and a Democrat.

When a mentally ill man Jared Loughner shot Arizona's senator Gabby Giffords 15 years ago Democrats, of course, blamed Sarah Palin because there was a "target" in one of her political ads and that was enough to make her the attacker. Washington Post even claimed she was at fault--and later had to walk back that story and say there was no connection "established." Nice work, WaPoop.

 
Now there's been a mass shooting at a gay nightclub, and I've heard (although I haven't researched it--could be Twitter gossip) some are again blaming Trump and people who voted for him for a "hate crime." Democrats, who make violent disgusting public statements like insurrection or more serious than the Civil War, seem to believe their words don't matter. Do they think no gay people voted for Trump? That there are no gay Republicans? Do they own gay voters?

About 18 years ago there was a nightclub in Columbus that was the scene of a shooting, where 4 men plus the perp were killed (police shot him). Heavy metal music, some sort of band feud. The shooter had a history of mental problems with a military discharge and had wanted to be in the band. As near as I can tell from the photos, all the men including the policeman were white. No one called it a "hate crime." Same crime, with some diversity and inclusion, and it would be a hate crime.

I'm guessing from watching many crime shows, the 4 white college kids murdered in Idaho were killed by a white male who knew them, or at least one of them. If he's ever voted for a Republican, the Democrats will probably say Trump did it.

When 5 black college football players at University of Virginia were shot (3 died) by a black former player last week, where were the Democrats calling out all black football players as violent and racist? The shooter had a weapons violation and got a slap on the wrist for a hit and run. Where were the Democrats demanding tougher sentences for crime, because the shooter should have been in jail? As it is, because all were black, Dems have nothing to say.
Democrats' words. If they can't get political gain from a crime (race, gender, homosexuality), they just don't care.

The GIFT in San Francisco

"On Wednesday, Mayor London Breed [San Francisco] announced the launch of the Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) program, which will distribute $1,200 per month to 55 individuals over 18 months beginning in January 2023. GIFT is part of a series of basic income initiatives in the city, including the pilot program for artists affected disproportionately by the COVID-19 pandemic." (Them)

I wonder what the proof of need will be? We have a SCOTUS justice who can't define a woman, and girly-men who can't compete against men saying they are a woman (whatever that is). I looked at the application (8 pages), not that one could live on $1200 in SF. It's simply setting them up for robbery and more mental confirmation they are victims, instead of providing them with mental health care. Here are the categories: (check all that apply, since apparently they can be more than one)

Cis-gender woman
Woman
Transgender Woman
Woman of Trans experience
Woman with a history of gender transition
Trans feminine
Feminine-of-center
MTF (male-to-female)
Demigirl
T-girl
Transgirl
Sistergirl
Cis
Man of Trans experience
Man with a history of gender transition
Trans masculine
Masculine-of-center
FTM (female-to-male)
Demiboy
T-boy
Transguy
Brotherboy
Trans
Transgender
Transsexual
Non-binary
Genderqueer
Agender
Xenogender
Fem
Femme
Butch
Boi
Stud
Aggressive (AG)
Androgyne
Tomboy
Gender outlaw
Gender non-conforming
Gender variant
Gender fluid
Genderfuck
Bi-gender
Multi-gender
Pangender
Gender creative
Gender expansive
Third gender
Neutrois
Intergender
Maverique
Novigender
Two-spirit
Hijra Kathoey
Muxe
Khanith/Xanith
X-gender
MTX
FTX
Bakla
Mahu
Fa’afafine
Waria
Palao’ana
Ashtime
Mashoga
Mangaiko
Chibados
Tida wena
Bixa’ah
Alyha
Hwame
Lhamana
Nadleehi
Dilbaa
Winkte
Ninauposkitzipxpe
Machi-embra
Quariwarmi
Chuckchi
Whakawahine
Fakaleiti
Calaba

And it used to be such a lovely city.

Ukraine, Russia and WW3

I love the Russian people, and I love the Ukrainian people, and it grieves me to see 2 Christian countries with its young men killing each other and bombing cities filled with civilians. It is estimated that both countries have lost more than 100,000 soldiers since February. If that doesn't make you cry for the parents, wives and children then you are cold indeed. But after the stunt that almost put us in WW3 last week, I'm so done with Zelensky. His government is turning out to be as big a fraud as the Biden Administration. US taxpayers have paid billions to "protect" Ukraine's border while our own border welcomes intruders and criminals in the name of compassion and fairness. Thousands of Americans have died from the fentanyl that comes in with the cartels using our own non-profits to feed, cloth, and transport them. Biden cut and ran in Afghanistan--ran right to a border fight that is probably 1,000 years old, between two countries that used to be one--the USSR.

I have no way to prove this hunch, but I don't think we'd be in this danger if Trump were still president (although he won't be able to stop it if he were reelected). Obama made the first fumble in 2014 with Crimea; Putin pulled back when we had a strong man in DC after the 2016 election. But when Biden showed his dimness and bumbling in August 2021, Putin took advantage. Ukraine's corruption and Biden's crime family had shown their relationship and Trump was on to that (for which he was impeached).

 
Goodness, what a mess.

Very low labor participation for young men

Do we need more Harvard grads? Ask anyone who owns a company that hires people in the trades. We signed today for a new garage door. It will be 12 weeks at least--supply line, shortage of steel, and no workers despite good wages and benefits. Huge price increase since 2020. We've all heard that labor participation has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, but the truth is, it's been dropping since the 1960s. Hmmm. What was happening? The War on Poverty. 2nd wave feminism. The Pill. Huge drop in marriage rate and fathers in the home. Begins in academe and drips into the Potomac.

Good PragerU video on D.I.E.

 Good information. Don't be confused--diversity means divide and conquer. Inclusion means the opposite--exclusion. Equity is definitely not equality. D.I.E.

https://www.prageru.com/video/miseducated-the-decline-of-americas-schools

Why are schools obsessed with race and gender issues? Why are children learning revisionist history? Why are America’s schools teaching children to hate America—and each other? In Miseducated, PragerU Kids Director of Outreach, Jill Simonian, interviews experts who understand our K-12 education problem and are awakening America to the battle happening right now for the minds of our children.