When and where are those golden years we've heard about?

Yesterday I received a cartoon-poem from a high school friend, Rusty Rush, about the Golden Years. Actually, I didn't know him in high school, we met on the internet in a group managed by a mutual high school friend from when both played basketball for different high schools. When I ask myself when do those golden years start, I remind myself they came and went. My golden years were my 60s to mid-70s. Or 2000-2015. I had a thoroughly good time and was healthy enough to move around easily and travel in uncomfortable buses and bumpy plane rides. Much better than being a teen-ager. And although I loved my job, retirement in those years was just fun.  Every day I decided how to use my time. If time is money, I was a billionaire. This is a public service announcement in case you've been asking.

  

Art classes at the Senior Center 2001

 

New home (now 23 years) in condo association with great neighbors

 and someone else to take care of the lawn and snow.

  

Joined a book club in fall 2000. I've now read

some mystery books.

  

Joined Conestoga and visited historical sites in Ohio;

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Marion, Dayton, Canton, Blannerhasset, 

Mansfield  and many in Columbus. Airplanes, automobiles, 

graveyards, churches, museums, gardens, buildings, presidents' homes.

  

Travel to Alaska, Germany, Austria, Finland, Russia, Estonia, 

Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Israel,

Egypt, Spain

 

Architectural tours with local Frank Lloyd Wright group to

  New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas

  

Train trip to California 2003 for Bob Sr. 90th birthday,

Glen Canyon, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Glacier Park,  

and in 2006

for Debbie's wedding and FLW tours and 

in 2011 for

  

Visits with Debbie and John and Rick and Kate,

 Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Malibu, Orange Co., Palm Springs,

Reagan Museum

 

Enjoying full season from 2001-2022 at our summer

home of 34 years in Lakeside, Ohio

  

Painting of our cottage on Third Street by Barby Bright

 

Family get-togethers at the Lake

 

Phil's home--Mother's Day

 

Holidays with family--Phoebe's home

 

Visits with Illinois family

 

Visits with Indiana family (Jean's 80th party)

 

Participated in many art shows

 

And 20 years of writing this blog, 20,017 posts,

with 3,567,726 views

(must be an old pie chart since most

are now political)

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, by Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini (d. 1905) slightly reformated

Jesus Christ is the light of the world (Jn 8:12).

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6).

He is the bond of union,
the kiss of peace between heaven and earth,
between God and man (Eph 2:14).

Jesus is our Redeemer,
our Teacher,
our Advocate,
our Exemplar,
our Doctor,
our Head,
our Companion,
our Brother,
our Friend,
our Comfort,
our Refuge,
our Glory,
our Joy, and
our Greatness.

He is the High Priest of the new covenant,
the eternal Priest,
the Mediator between God and man,
the victim for our sins,
our true and only happiness.

He is the door we must enter to reach his kingdom,
the Cornerstone and
Foundation on which the spiritual edifice must be built.

He is the Bread of our souls,
the Author and Perfecter of our faith,
our Reward,
our Crown,
our Life, and our All.

To Jesus we owe the grace and friendship of the Father,
the confidence and freedom of the sons and daughters of God.
To Jesus we owe all the gifts of nature, grace, and glory that we receive from God.

To Jesus we owe it if God preserves us,
sustains us, and
defends us;
if he does not punish us as we deserve;
if he continues to bear with us and wait for us.

From Jesus we get all wisdom and prudence,
all inspirations and good thoughts,
all pious desires.

From Jesus comes courage in time of danger,
strength in time of temptation, 
long-suffering in time of pain,
patience in time of adversity, and
perseverance in doing good:

"In Christ you have become rich in all things" (I Cor I).

Yes, we have everything in Jesus,
we can do everything in Jesus,
we can hope everything and
obtain everything from Jesus,
since it was Jesus who wanted to humiliate himself for us,
sacrifice himself for us, and
become all things for us (I Cor 1).

This appeared in 2 paragraphs on p. 58-59 of the February 2023 issue of Magnificat. I found it online at Scalabrini a living voice, excerpt from his writings, 1987. http://www.intratext.com/ixt/ENG2000/_P4.HTM

Big Pharma, Big Tech, and Synthetic Sex Identities by Jennifer Bilek

She started tracking the money that was supporting transgenderism about a decade ago. Very wealthy people are driving this ideology. Big Pharma, Big Tech, and Synthetic Realities. Whether you support Genesis or Evolution, it doesn't matter. You'll be silenced. Women are being eliminated. Look at the changes in our language. Women are being dehumanized, called chest feeders or birthing people so that transmen can be included.

Big Pharma, Big Tech, and Synthetic Sex Identities | Hillsdale College Freedom Library

The same billionaires who are funding sterilizing children are also funding the artificial synthetic sex industry to create humans. They are "creating god."

Act out in Chicago

I was reading an account of the teen "wilding" in Chicago where mobs of teens were being "rowdy" last night. I noticed this sentence:

"Around 8 p.m., the mob of teens attempted to storm into Millennium Park. However, people under 21 are not allowed access to the park without being accompanied by an adult."

So, children can decide about sex surgery to be sterilized, but people under 21 can't get in a park without an adult? What sort of dystopian world is this?

Who is funding the transgender movement? Follow the money

Who Is Funding the Transgender Movement?

"I found exceedingly rich, white men with enormous cultural influence are funding the transgender lobby and various transgender organizations. These include but are not limited to Jennifer Pritzker (a male who identifies as transgender); George Soros; Martine Rothblatt (a male who identifies as transgender and transhumanist); Tim Gill (a gay man); Drummond Pike; Warren and Peter Buffett; Jon Stryker (a gay man); Mark Bonham (a gay man); and Ric Weiland (a deceased gay man whose philanthropy is still LGBT-oriented). Most of these billionaires fund the transgender lobby and organizations through their own organizations, including corporations."  (Jennifer Bilek) Who Are the Rich, White Men Institutionalizing Transgender Ideology? (thefederalist.com)  Billionaires funding Transgender movement for profit | The Standard SC

I recognize the Stryker name.  It was on all the beds and gurneys that supported our son during his struggle with glioblastoma. It's medical devices. Billions.   At the fitness center while Phil was still alive I met a man who worked for Stryker--he was in the operating room when he had the surgery.  Stryker family (forbes.com)  Many of the rich founders of the trans movement are gay men.  Don't know why. They are heavily invested in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. So, yes, money, but there must be more.  Is it self-hatred?  They were also big Obama supporters. So the movement, which came to light with the bathroom battles, goes back to that. Pritzker is on his third wife--all women, even after he came out as a very fat, large woman.

But Jon isn't the only Stryker supporting LGBTQ+ causes. The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement | Jennifer Bilek | First Things  His sisters are involved, too. Their foundation Arcus poisons the well for many organizations

Lina Khan and the FTC

"The Federal Trade Commission is an irregularity. Though the agency is nominally part of the executive branch, its five commissioners do not answer directly to the president. They are independent. The Constitution, with its three-branch structure, does not contemplate the existence of such an entity. You might think that such an agency, this “fourth branch” anomaly, would strive to show respect for Congress, the federal courts, and the president—as a matter of self-preservation, if nothing else. But under the leadership of Lina Khan, the FTC is defying, sidestepping, and subverting all three."

And it's nothing new, The Unaccountable Federal Trade Commission | City Journal (city-journal.org)

Victor Davis Hanson on 10 ways Biden is causing chaos

VDH lists 10 ways by which America lost all deterrence.

"1) Joe Biden abruptly pulled all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He left behind to the Taliban hundreds of Americans and thousands of pro-American Afghans. Biden abandoned billions of dollars in U.S. equipment, the largest air base in central Asia—recently retrofitted at a cost of $300 million—and a $1 billion embassy. Our government called such a debacle a success. The world disagreed and saw only humiliation.

2) The Biden Administration allowed a Chinese high-altitude spy balloon to traverse the continental United States, spying on key American military installations. The Chinese were defiant when caught and offered no apologies. In response, the Pentagon and the administration simply lied about the extent that China had surveilled top-secret sites.

3) In March 2021, at an Anchorage, Alaska mini-summit, Chinese diplomats unleashed a relentless barrage at their stunned and mostly silent American counterparts. They lectured the timid Biden Administration diplomats about American toxicity and hypocrisy. And they have defiantly refused to explain why and how their virology lab birthed the COVID virus that has killed tens of millions worldwide.

4) In June 2021, in response to Russian cyber-attacks against the United States, Biden meekly asked Putin to at least make off-limits certain critical American infrastructure.

5) When asked what he would do if Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden replied that the reaction would depend on whether the Russians conducted a “minor incursion.”

6) Between 2021 and 2022, Joe Biden serially insulted and bragged that he would not meet Muhammad bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, and one of our oldest and most valuable allies in the Middle East.

7) For much of 2021, the Biden Administration made it known that it was eager and ready to offer concessions to re-enter the dangerous Iran nuclear deal—at a time when Iran has joined China and Russia in a new geostrategic partnership.

8) Almost immediately upon inauguration, the administration moved the United States away from Israel, restored financial aid to radical Palestinians, and both publicly and privately alienated the current Netanyahu government.

9) In serial fashion, Biden stopped all construction on the border wall and opened the border. He made it known that illegal aliens were welcome to enter the United States unlawfully. Some 6-7 million did. He reinstated “catch and release.” And he did nothing about the Mexican cartel importation of fentanyl that has recently killed over 100,000 Americans per year.

10) In the last two years, the Pentagon has embarked on a woke agenda. The army is short by 15,000 in its annual recruitment quota. The defense budget has not kept up with inflation. One of the greatest intelligence leaks in U.S. history just occurred from the Pentagon.

The Pentagon refused to admit culpability and misled the country about Afghanistan and the Chinese spy balloon flight. The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called his Chinese communist counterpart and head of the People’s Liberation Army to advise him that the U.S. military would warn the Chinese if it determined an order from its commander-in-chief Trump was inappropriate.

This list of these self-inflicted disasters could be easily expanded.

But the examples explain well enough why our emboldened enemies do not fear us, our triangulating allies judge us unreliable, and calculating neutrals assume America is in descent and too dangerous to join.

Yet without America, the result is a new Chinese order in which, to quote the historian Thucydides, “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”"

A new kind of wheelchair--hands free, PURE

My first semester at the University of Illinois in 1958 I noticed the outstanding services for the disabled--buses, ramps, wheelchairs, everything accessible decades before the rest of the country moved in that direction. I can still remember the man with no arms who ate with his feet pushing the wheelchair with the strength of his lower body of the friend with no legs. That's why it's good to see the technology at U. of I.  for hands-free wheelchairs Hands-free wheelchair prototype achieves major milestone | Mechanical Science & Engineering | UIUC (illinois.edu) "Personalized Unique Rolling Experience."

"PURE, Personalized Unique Rolling Experience, [is] a hands-free wheelchair that operates similarly to a Segway where the rider leans in a desired direction. The unique aspect of PURE is that it rolls on a ball or “spherical” wheel. It is based on the concept of a dynamically stable ball-based robot (ballbot) and uses an omniwheel system to drive and control the spherical wheel. PURE automatically transitions between three driving behaviors. Steer and Spin are similar to a typical wheelchair, in which the user can steer forward, backward or spin in place. Slide is unique and allows the user to move laterally, like an office chair. To accommodate for limited torso range of motion of some users, PURE uses sensors to estimate leaning and twisting motions and amplifies these signals to control the ballbot’s direction and speed.

“The development of PURE has been guided by our immutables – that it be lightweight and maintain a small footprint. We want to ensure that the current independence of manual wheelchair users would in no way be limited by PURE. If we were to develop a hands-free device that was so heavy that it prevented users from easily transferring it into and out of their vehicle, or if it was so large that it wouldn’t maneuver around typical living spaces, we would have missed the mark. Any device that compromises current levels of independence just won’t be used during daily life,” Bleakney said."

Men named Amy and Rachel are the new patriarchy.

 

Another good-bye--sweet dear Max

A note from sister Debbie: Max, your little face with those sad looking eyes drew me to you when I first saw your face in the newspaper, the OC Register. You pulled those heartstrings to the point of filling out the application and scheduling a meet and greet. The next 12 years of your almost 14 of being together were the absolute best. You became my greeter at the door, my shadow, companion, my love dog. A companion is gone but the memory lives on. The most difficult thing about having a dog is the good bye. My grief is not a sign of weakness but the price of love. I'm fortunate to have a very talented brother who painted a water color of Max after one of his visits from Ohio. Max, I love you and will miss you.

I stand with Riley

 

The creeping fascism of the federal government

 1. Joe Biden is overstepping on EV. He's declared that to meet climate goals (which no one believes in) we'll all have to have EVs by 2032 (2/3 of new cars, which means no one else will be able to buy gas). He has sold us out to China. EPA proposes new tailpipe rules that could push EVs to make up two-thirds of new car sales in US by 2032 | CNN Politics

(A) We don't have the grid, 

(B) we don't have the necessary products to create the batteries, and 

(C) we don't have a way to dispose of this toxic material.   

Batteries Are The Next Environmental Challenge (forbes.com)

This is regressive, not progressive. It is more polluting than anything we have now. This is a gift to China, who's already eating our lunch in the economic field and a gift to the auto companies. They made out like gang busters during Obama's war on the poor, called "cash for clunkers." Unilaterally deciding on what products can be produced and by which companies by the government IS fascism.

2. Joe Biden has quietly stated that the pandemic is over. Of course, that's ridiculous. It was over a long time ago.

 (A) Many of the laws and mandates about what we are allowed to say on social media or who can keep their jobs or who is allowed to defend the country haven't been rescinded. 

(B) We have never had an apology or even an investigation of what the violation of voting laws at the local and state level during the pandemic did to the 2020 election. Do you really think they'll just forget the power they grabbed from the people, from the states? By not being allowed to discuss it--that IS fascism. 

(C) Our churches have been silenced and still won't discuss or sue about the legality of what was done to Christians, Jews and Muslims in the U.S. which has a constitution that makes what the federal government did to us ILLEGAL. Outlawing religion IS fascism. 

Churches Still Recovering From Pandemic Losses - Lifeway Research

3. Declaring that boys will be girls and forcing girls to accept it and saying otherwise is a crime even though trans are .11% of the population (government figures), and then sending #2 honcho off to Tennessee to whine with the 2 black Justins who rioted and committed an insurrection because they wanted to protest about guns instead of the murder of children, that IS fascism--out and out mind control by the government. VP Harris meets with 'Tennessee Three' in surprise visit to Nashville after expulsions over gun protests (msn.com)

What happened in the Tennessee House when Democrats attacked Democracy?

Byron York compares what happened in TN House with what happened in Nancy's House in DC. 

"But the House, controlled by Republicans with a huge 75-24 majority, was on March 30 continuing a scheduled debate on school vouchers. To Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson — three of the state House’s 99 members — that was unacceptable. The majority was not addressing “the crisis at hand,” as Jones saw it. In Jones’ view, along with Pearson’s and Johnson’s, the House should have dropped what it was doing and addressed the situation [gun control] that Jones, Pearson and Johnson wanted it to address.

So Jones, who had sneaked a megaphone onto the House floor, took over the podium and began haranguing his fellow lawmakers. Playing to the crowd, he and Pearson handed the bullhorn back and forth and led the crowds in chants of “No action, no peace!” and “Enough is enough!” and “Power to the people!” Republicans retreated to a corner of the chamber to discuss how to regain control of the House. After nearly an hour, Jones, Pearson and Johnson left the floor, and the House returned to business.

It was as egregious a violation of rules as one could imagine — a move by a tiny group to temporarily shut down the state’s most important democratic institution. It clearly called out for punishment. After reviewing the incident, House Republicans expelled Jones and Pearson, and failed by one vote to expel Johnson, who had played a less active role in the takeover."

Byron York: When Democrats Attack Democracy | The Patriot Post

But that's Democrats. Rules are for the other folks, the dummies, and Veep Harris rushed in to applaud their lawlessness.

Reproductive rights

The HHS has a Department of Reproductive Rights and so does the Department of Justice. The whole phrase "reproductive rights" may be one of the most misleading euphemisms in government hoodwink speak. And that says a lot. If you reproduce a designer gown you don't grab scissors and cut off the arms; if you reproduce a document, you don't jam a metal instrument in the innards of the photocopy machine and hope you get a good copy.

 
"Reproductive rights" means the right to kill a baby, a helpless human being, whether shortly after conception with a few pills or up to the end of the pregnancy at 9.5 lbs, 22 inches by sucking out the brain as the baby emerges. It's the bed rock foundation of everything the Democrats stand for. If some Democrats had their way, they'd include the 2 years after a live birth to be sure the baby meets the government specs. The blood lust of Joe Biden created these departments after the SCOTUS decision in 2022, Executive Order 14076.

  

Adding to the Tennessee tragedies

Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson of Tennessee were much closer to being insurrectionists than anyone who protested on January 6th. And they barely got a slap on the wrist, and Veep Harris lauded and visited them. They desecrated the memory and suffering the those killed at the Christian school in Nashville with their disgusting protests. Why did they skate? Because they are Democrats and that's what they do. Rules are for everyone else. Democrats don't respect life, the Constitution, the nation or the pain and suffering of anyone but themselves, and even that's in doubt since they don't seem to ever suffer.

Kamala Harris meets with Tennessee lawmakers expelled over mass shooting protest - CBS News

Just try finding that truth in the media. When I researched this there must have been over 100 articles supporting these 3 silly, disrespectful and hateful people. Far more coverage than the media gave the murder of three children and 3 staff at a Christian school.

Louisville shooter former basketball player and bank employee

"More recently, he hosted a basketball-focused podcast with two buddies and tweeted about the NBA in between posts in support of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, as well as some criticism of police violence and of then-President Donald Trump."

Friend said he'd had numerous concussions and wore a helmet while playing in high school.

He was fired last week from the bank.

Louisville Bank Massacre Suspect ID’d as Varsity Hoop Star-Turned-Banker (msn.com)

Nostalgia and preservation

I saw this invitation to attend a presentation by the preservation librarian of the University of Illnois, my alma mater.

"While there is a growing nostalgia for our old mix tapes on compact cassettes, our legacy LP collections, and old family films, we are faced with growing challenges to actually be able to play many of these legacy audiovisual formats. But the preservation challenges of our personal legacy AV collections pale in comparison to the challenges we will soon face with the preservation of our growing digital photos and files, even though there is not yet a fond nostalgia for 3.5 inch floppy disks or thumb drives. Jennifer will present an overview of the typical AV and digital formats that many consider valuable to us and will present basic steps that people can take towards better preservation strategies to ensure that you will be able to continue access to these materials for years to come."

Yes, how to you play these formats if you've trashed the equipment?  I still have a reel to reel tape of our wedding, but the tape player is long gone. We've got old vhs tapes, and no player.  Soon the DVDs will probably be unusable. 

And yet, to ruin a career, someone with evil intent will do a deep dive into twitter or Facebook, and dredge up something sent out when he or she was 17, or hit the like button.

Twenty arguments for the existence of God by Peter Kreeft

 Twenty Arguments God's Existence by Peter Kreeft (& Ronald K. Tacelli)

Peter Kreeft is a philosopher, and maybe the most famous Christian philosopher of our era.  He published this theme of 20 arguments for God's existence about 30 years ago.  I can't remember not believing in God, so I didn't have to be convinced and never debated it. I've also never taken a philosophy class. So 20 arguments is impressive.  My earliest memory of this was when I was about 4 or 5, and I thought God looked like our mailman, Mr. Bechtold, and wore a blue gray uniform. He was older than my parents, and I certainly knew other people who had uniforms (it was WWII and just about all the men I knew were in uniform, including my father and uncles). But I do remember sitting on the front steps of our house on Hitt Street watching him walk by and deliver the mail from a brown bag.  I must have been a very deep thinker at that age. Later around age 7 I recall lying in the grass at night looking at the sky with all the stars and realizing there was something much larger than my family, town, church, friends, school and pets, in short, bigger than my little universe.

If I had to choose one of the twenty, it would be number 5, Design. This awes me every day, every minute.  I notice it all the time.  The other 19 might be fun for philosophers to think about, and some or most of Kreeft's list I don't even understand.  Design is easy.  Works for me.

Sensible people who believe in truth need to take back our language

"The University of Florida has created a radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy that promotes racial and political preferences in faculty hiring, encourages white employees to engage with a twelve-step program called Racists Anonymous, and maintains racially segregated scholarship programs that violate federal civil rights law."

DEI Captures the University of Florida | City Journal (city-journal.org)

DEI should be DIE.  These academic and corporate prison guards wish that on society.

People who run Soviet style reeducation camps should be labelled Identitarian Regressives.

Climate change could be Climate As Usual because it has always changed, and Ohio used to be covered by a glacier. Our Changing Continent (usgs.gov)  Arizona where we visited last week used to be under water. In the beginning God. . .

I'm so tired of allowing Leftist radicals and mentally unstables to abscond with the language including defining biological sex. Gender needs to go back to the school rhetoric book where it belongs, and the all inclusive term hate speech should be completely reevaluated--words don't kill. 

If I ruled the world . . . 

Hydration and the elderly

"The amount of body water decreases by approximately 15% (about 6 L) between the ages of 20 and 80⁵. With this decrease, the body becomes more susceptible to dehydration from the loss of a small amount of body water⁶.

Moreover, the elderly often experience diminished thirst sensation which leads to a reduced fluid consumption⁷ ⁸.

Also as a consequence of aging, the kidneys have a reduced ability to concentrate urine and retain water during water deprivation⁹. In addition, aging kidneys are less able to conserve or excrete sodium¹⁰.

Insufficient fluid intakes can also be the result of limitations such as reduced swallowing capacity, decreased mobility, or comprehension and communication disorders. Disease-related factors, such as incontinence can increase water losses. Dehydration may also be caused by warm temperature, inadequate staffing in institutions, or use of laxatives or diuretics¹.

SOME STRATEGIES FOR ENCOURAGING FLUIDS CONSUMPTION ⁹ ¹¹

• Offer fluids regularly during the day
• Make liquids readily available all day (at bedside or chairside in geriatric institutions) by placing containers such as small bottle of water or sippy cups
• Encourage consumption of fluids with medication
• Provide preferred beverages
• Prescribe and safeguard a minimum intake of 1.5 L in periods of increased risk for dehydration"

I took a hydration test associated with this article and it said I was under hydrated.

Hydration in the elderly - Hydration for Health

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167494321000431?

Nutrition Strategies Promoting Healthy Aging: From Improvement of Cardiovascular and Brain Health to Prevention of Age-Associated Diseases - PMC (nih.gov)  Section on importance of hydration.

Covid Mortality Rate

 I just read an article about the soaring housing costs in Dubai. Seem 90% of the people who live there are foreign nationals. Lots of reasons, but interestingly, about 700,000 Russians have relocated since the war with Ukraine and many are finding refuge in Dubai.  But also Dubai had fewer Covid restrictions than other countries, and even encouraged tourism.  So I looked up Covid mortality.  Worldwide the mortality rate is .009.  For Dubai, it is .002.  So, 761,401,518 have been infected and 6,886,987 have died, and that makes .009. 

Sexual abuse by doctors and government policy--the Trans Hoax

I see Maryland has a report that Catholic priests may have abused 600 children over 6 decades. That would be less than public school teachers, and much, much less than doctors working in transgender clinics just in 2023 who have removed body parts in children and given them hormones which will sterilize them and cause significant health problems as they age. And let's add in the Planned Parenthood "clinics" which pass out cross sex hormones like candy without regard to the child's health.

Any sexual abuse of a child is awful--but we're legalizing and promoting the worst abuse of all. Sexual predators always tell their victims it's good for them and not to tell their parents. And in some cases, the parents are cooperating or are suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

A friend who is a retired doctor reports: "Yup, the abuse in public schools today dwarfs the problems in the Catholic Church, and the vast majority of what happened in the Church goes back to the 60's and 70's when we were all told to "do our own thing" and "Free Love" reigned supreme."

https://katv.com/news/nation-world/planned-parenthood-giving-transgender-hormone-therapy-to-minors-across-the-country?

https://nypost.com/2022/10/14/nearly-270-k-12-educators-arrested-on-child-sex-crimes-in-first-9-months-of-this-year/?

Attorney General’s Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore (marylandattorneygeneral.gov)

The Defense Medical Epidemiology Database whistleblower vs. government denials

The damage caused by the untested medical mandates of 2020 has taken a back burner position in the public's mind compared to the Supreme Court decision on abortion, Hunter Biden's laptop, the out of thin air charges by Alvin Bragg against Trump, and Biden's proxy war in Ukraine, but it's had a huge impact on the readiness of our military and on the lives of the military members who still are suffering or who were wrongly discharged.  Combine that scandal with the DEI racist policies while calling white soldiers racist, the general failures of the current administration in closing out the Afghanistan war, it's surprising there is anyone joining the military.

The data from the DMED by 2021 showed a skyrocketing level of many diseases. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it except the mandates that those at little risk submit to an untested and unapproved medical procedure.

Percentage Increase over the Average of the previous 5 years:

Heart attacks 2069%

Cancer 300%

Pericarditis 175%

Myocarditis 285%

Pulmonary Emboliisms 467%

Cerebral Infarction 393%

Bell's Palsy 319%

Guillain-Barre 20%

Immnodeficiencies 275%

Menstrual Irregularity 476%

Multiple Sclerosis 487%

Miscarriage 306%

HIV 590%

Chest Pain 1,290%

Labored Breathing 905%

Neurological Issues 1,052%

Then an anonymous source in the DoD reported that the DMED statistics were a result of underreporting for 2016-2020.  It is that story which all the MSM and various non-profit watchdog "science" organizations reported to the general public. It looks like no one in the military was tasked with asking why the medical establishment didn't question why figures were low for 5 years. Not until Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) began to question what was happening, did the DOD decide its own database had been wrong (under reporting) for 5 years, and then wrong again by over reporting.

"Judicial Watch sues Pentagon for Vaccine Injury Data, Verdict, April 2023, Vol. 29, Issue 4, pp 12-14

https://www.westernjournal.com/military-doctor-testifies-court-high-level-command-ordered-silence-frightening-vaccine-data/

https://www.bitchute.com/video/gZ3FMy54alRe/

https://renz-law.com/attorney-tom-renz-whistleblowers-dmed-defense-medical-epidemiology-database-reveals-incredibly-disturbing-spikes-in-diseases-infertility-injuries-across-the-board-after-the-military-was-forced-to/

Letter from Ron Johnson to DOD https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/services/files/FB6DDD42-4755-4FDC-BEE9-50E402911E02

The great disinformation hoax, how the government-created “war against disinformation” became the great moral crusade of its time

 A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century - Tablet Magazine  by Jacob Siegal.

The hoax is "disinformation."  In short, the smoke and mirrors attack against Donald Trump.  For the life of me I can't figure out what the bureaucracy in the federal government were so afraid of.  One minute he's Hitler, then Stalin, then Putin.  When they could find no evidence of anything, they just used the idea of "disinformation." In my opinion [and it seems the author's], the disinformation hoax and techniques were used against us again with the Covid lies and lockdowns. But originally, and maybe for author Siegal, it begins in late December 2016 with Obama and his Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act. The Alvin Bragg crime in New York is just the latest edition of the hoax.

"A false story algorithmically amplified by Twitter and disseminated by the media—it’s no coincidence that this perfectly describes the “bullshit” spread on Twitter about Russian influence operations: In 2017, it was [Clint] Watts who came up with the idea for the Hamilton 68 dashboard and helped spearhead the initiative." 

If you don't want to read it, here's the author explaining it. https://youtu.be/eOEoNswz_Lg

The real tragedy is the result: our society has been destroyed by this disinformation hoax all designed by the federal government and its cohorts in social and traditional media. You really can't trust any source or authority, and it has made friend and family foes.

Clara Mellem, 1930-2023, dear friend from church

"With deep sorrow, we announce that Clara Bernetta Mellum, nee Braaten, passed away Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at her home in Columbus, Ohio, surrounded by her loving husband, Reuben, of 66 years and her children. Clara was 92 years of age. In addition to her husband, Reuben, Clara is survived by her children, Mark (Bev), Steven (Jean), and Mary (Ken), along with nine grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, sisters-in-law Joyce Braaten and Gladys Mellum and many nieces and nephews. Clara was preceded in death by her daughter-in-law, Kerri, and her grandson, Andy. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Ben and Clara Braaten, along with brothers, Newman, Iver, Boyd, and Norris, sisters Gladys, Adeline, and Bernice, sisters-in-law Ella and Ardith, and brothers-in-law Maurice and Les.

Clara was born on May 3, 1930, in Wyndmere, North Dakota. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Gol Aal Lutheran Church, near Wyndmere. She grew up on the family farm and attended grade school at Garborg Township District 4. She graduated from Wahpeton High School in 1948. Clara earned a Bachelor's degree at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where she met her husband, Reuben. Her teaching career started at a country school in North Dakota and continued with an elementary teaching position in the Twin Cities area. Clara and Reuben were united in marriage in Wyndmere on August 12, 1956.

After their marriage, Clara joined Reuben at the church parsonage in the Norway Lake area near New London, Minnesota. Their first son, Mark, was born in 1957, and in 1960, the young family moved to Breckenridge, Minnesota to serve Breckenridge Lutheran Church. Here, Clara's and Reuben's other two children, Steven and Mary, were born. After moving from Breckenridge in 1974, Clara and Reuben served two other churches, one in Pemberville, Ohio, and one in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. Wherever she lived, Clara served as a teacher in the public school system. In Pemberville, Clara taught migrant farmworkers' children and eventually directed that program. In St. Clair Shores, Clara was a substitute teacher for ten years until she and Reuben retired.

Upon their retirement, Clara and Reuben relocated to Columbus, Ohio, where they joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. Clara volunteered at the church's Clothes Closet as well as other volunteer opportunities, while Reuben served as a visitation pastor. At the time of her death, Clara and Reuben were living at the Forum at Knightsbridge in Columbus.

Throughout her life, Clara found joy in spending time with her family, which she treasured above anything else. She was eager to help her family in any endeavor. She enjoyed baking, cooking and volunteering at her church. Clara especially loved to carry on cherished family recipes for such things as Norwegian lefse, krumkake, and spritz cookies. She brought her rolls and cinnamon buns to countless family gatherings and enjoyed sharing her knowledge of baking and sewing with others.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, April 14, 2023, at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church on Lytham Road in Upper Arlington at 11:00 AM. Visitation will be at the church from 10:00 am - 11:00 am, with a lunch following the service. Interment will be at the columbarium at the church.''

Clara Mellum Obituary - Columbus, OH (dignitymemorial.com)

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Clara and Reuben joined our church after his retirement and their son Steven lived here. He was our visitation pastor for several years, and we had occasion to call him when our daughter's father in law had an emergency and was in the hospital here in Columbus.  We were guests with them in February 2020 when the Hahms hosted a Valentine dinner (perhaps the last social event before the Covid lockdown that we attended) and each married couple brought their wedding photo.  Clara had the most beautiful wedding dress I've ever seen. We saw them several times at the Hahms who love to host creative and delicious dinners for 6-8 people. Every Sunday we saw Clara and Reuben go up the aisle for communion--they usually sat a few rows behind us.  The last time we saw her was Sunday, March 26, and she died while we were in Arizona March 28-April 4. We had planned a visit at their home in the Forum earlier in March, but we both had colds, so had postponed the visit.  We will miss her gentle ways and friendly smile.

Irwin Ernest Jennings Nov. 1, 1934 - Mar 22, 2023, our Lakeside pastor

The Rev. Irwin E. Jennings transitioned from this life to the next on March 22, 2023. Having tenaciously challenged Parkinson’s for years, Irwin tested positive for Covid on March 21st. Throughout the day and into the evening he continued to reach out to his beloved family and friends via phone calls, texts and emails. The following morning, he quietly slipped away. The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff and residents at Harbor Chase of Sarasota for embracing and caring for Irwin over the last 2 months of his earthly life.

Born on All Saints Day in 1934, Irwin was the first child and only son of Nesta (Emler) and Ernest Jennings. He was the protective older brother of Sue Ann Jennings Hochstetter; first cousin to Jimmy and Nancy Larr; second cousin to Corky and Larry Shafer; grandson of Sam and Laura Jennings; grandson of Irwin and Bessie Emler; and beloved nephew of aunts Olive Jennings Larr, Irene Jennings Johnston, Lucille Jennings Farrell, Mildred Jennings, Jean Jennings Ruble, Bonnie Emler Shafer and Eileen Emler Ford.

Irwin lived his first few years on Adams Street in Coshocton. As the story goes, Irwin took to stopping at Andy’s Restaurant on Monday mornings on his walk to first grade, only to spend his week’s milk money on a single burger. This indulgence earned him the lifelong nickname “Wimpy” after the character from Popeye.

When Irwin was 5, the family moved to Tyndal to care for his great grandfather, Grandpap Emler. The house had no indoor plumbing, no refrigeration, and for years, no phone. But Irwin enjoyed life in Tyndal, roaming the hills with Trixie (his cocker spaniel), shooting hoops against the side of the barn, attending picnics on the church lawn, and hitchhiking into town on weekends to see the movies playing at all 3 theaters.

Irwin attended Conesville High School, where he was a popular and athletic student. He most enjoyed playing basketball with his best friend, Bill Abbott. Star turns on the Conesville basketball court were offset by arduous summer jobs on local road crews, in nearby factories and in the potato fields surrounding Tyndal.

In the fall of 1950, when he was just 15 years old, Irwin lost his mother to cancer. Thankfully, Irwin and his sister were blessed with caring grandparents and aunts, who took them in and lovingly created a patchwork quilt of family. Irwin was forever grateful to his family, and for the rest of his life he visited frequently and faithfully as an expression of his enduring gratitude.

In 1952 Irwin graduated from Conesville High School and soon found his place at Muskingum College. There he enjoyed theater and Stag Club and developed into a strong competitive debater. Years later, reading the history of Muskingum College, Irwin was startled to learn that “college president Dr. Robert Montgomery advised the faculty that Muskingum had enrolled students in 1951 and 1952 ordinarily ineligible for admission - and that their counseling and guidance would require more time than usual." Despite this prediction, Irwin successfully graduated from Muskingum College in 1956.

Following graduation, Irwin taught for a year at Louisville High School. The next year brought him home to Coshocton and to a teaching and coaching position at his alma mater.

Irwin and Janet Louise Gray had their first date on New Year’s Eve, 1957. Months later, Irwin joined the Air National Guard and headed to Lackland Airforce Base in San Antonio, Texas. It was there that Irwin came to the decision to pursue the ministry, and in 1958 he enrolled at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

From Garrett, Irwin regularly hitchhiked home to see Janet at Muskingum, and in the Spring of 1959, Irwin and Janet became engaged. The following year, on June 11, 1960, Irwin and Janet were married at the Plainfield United Methodist Church. Irwin often said that marrying Janet was the best decision he ever made in his life.

One week after the wedding, Irwin and Janet moved to rural Indiana for his student pastorate at the Reynolds-Guernsey Charge. From there, Irwin commuted 130 miles to Evanston for classes each week. Fortunately, one of the first McDonalds lay en route, and Irwin/Wimpy was delighted to discover it.

After 2 years in Indiana, Irwin and Janet, and now also Beth and Carrie, returned to Ohio and the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. In 1962 at Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside, Irwin was ordained in the United Methodist Church.

Irwin’s first pastorate was at Calvary UMC in East Liverpool. There the family added a third child, a son, David. These were lean years for Irwin and Janet; they had to borrow from Janet’s dad to pay the heating bill and squeezed a family of 5 into a red VW Beetle. Next the young family moved to Elyria, where Irwin enjoyed building the youth fellowship program. From Elyria, Irwin and family moved on to Barberton and St. Paul’s UMC, where he played on both the church basketball and ping pong teams.

In 1973 Irwin accepted the appointment to Faith UMC in North Canton. This was to be a wonderfully rewarding 16-year appointment, with a thriving congregation and the forming of many lifelong friendships. During this time Irwin earned an M.A from Case Western Reserve University and a Master in Divinity from the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Irwin then became Superintendent of the Wooster District and served in this capacity for 6 years, before accepting the appointment to his last pastorate, the Medina UMC. In 2001, following 42 years of ministry, Irwin retired with Janet to Mount Vernon, spending summers at Lakeside and winters in Sarasota.

But most ministers don’t truly retire, and so in 2006, Irwin stepped into the role of worship coordinator for Lakeside’s Dockside Service. With Janet and Beth’s help, Irwin ministered to a steadily growing congregation for the next 12 summer seasons, retiring from Lakeside in 2018. In 2021 the site of the Dockside Service was dedicated in honor of Irwin and Janet and is now the Jennings East Deck of the Lakeside Pavilion.

During his 42 years of ministry, Irwin deeply touched so many of our lives through parenting, preaching, prayer and his very presence. His acts of service in Sunday morning services, home and hospital visits, confirmations, weddings, baptisms and funerals have left an indelible mark on our lives. And Irwin was truly blessed by knowing each and every one of you. He delighted in his family, his friends, and his flock. He loved and prayed for each of you.

The love of Irwin’s life, Janet, passed on June 5, 2022, and he grieved tremendously for her. In the midst of our enormous grief at the passing of Irwin, our Dad, our Boppy, our brother, cousin, uncle, minister and friend, we are so very grateful for the life of this warm, caring, gentle, loving and humble man, and for the knowledge that Irwin and Janet are together again, in God’s presence, forever.

Irwin was the loving father of Elizabeth Jennings Sibbring; Carrie Ellen Jennings, David Ernest Jennings, daughter-in-law Linda Doepker Jennings, son-in-law, Charles Mahler, and the proud grandfather of Sarah Elizabeth Sibbring, Laura Anne Sibbring, Parker Jennings Patterson, Nikki Leigh Jennings and Lindsey Bliss Jennings.

A Celebration of Life for the Rev Irwin E. Jennings is planned for June 11, 2023 at 2:00 pm on the Jennings East Deck of the Lakeside Pavilion. All are welcome. Interment of ashes to follow at 4:30 pm at the Memorial Garden. Family dinner at a location TBD at 5:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to Lakeside Chautauqua in support of Religious Life. You can mail a check payable to “Lakeside Chautauqua Foundation” with “Irwin Jennings Memorial” on the memo line to Lakeside, 236 Walnut Ave, Lakeside, Ohio 43440. Or you can make a gift at www.lakesideohio.com/today and put ‘In memory of Irwin Jennings’ in the comment box.

His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Matthew 25:23

Obituary information for Irwin E. Jennings (crosserpriesmanfuneralhome.com)

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Irwin was our summer Pastor (United Methodist) at Lakeside, Ohio, for twelve years.  He spoke at our 50th wedding anniversary in August 2010 and again at our son's interment at Lakeside Memorial Gardens in August 2020. We often had ice cream visits in the evening on our porch with Janet and Irwin. Although challenged by Parkinson's in his later years, it never stopped his activities and he regularly participated in the Parkinson's group at Lakeside which met for exercise/therapy and support. I'll always remember him standing at the little pulpit on the Lakeside Pavilion with Lake Erie behind him, preaching and smiling and sharing the gospel.

The Nashville school killings

At least the killer wasn't a woman. "Audrey Hale, 28, who police said was a transgender woman, had conducted surveillance and prepared for the attack with detailed maps, officials said. Police said the shooter had a manifesto, the contents of which were not released." (NBC)  I actually said that when I first saw on the news that the shooter was a woman. It just doesn't fit what we know about these crazies who shoot at little kids.

As soon as I saw it was Nashville, I remembered the son of my friend is a chaplain at a private Christian school there, so I looked him up, and that was the name of his school, Covenant.  Then I checked his Facebook page, and he had noted, "I am safe, please pray."  He's the same age as our daughter and used to be a member of our church.

Nashville school shooting live updates: Six killed, including three children (nbcnews.com)

No change in how awful Joe Biden is.

Boston Herald Editorial, September 19, 2021 Opinion by Peter Lucas

Joe Biden could have been a good president. All he had to do was leave things alone. Instead, he blundered into the office and wrecked the country

He is like the guy on a Boeing 747 high over the Atlantic Ocean who breaks into the cockpit and says, "I can fly this thing" "You don't have to, Joe," the pilot says, "It's on autopilot. It flies itself. You know, computers." Undeterred, Joe presses buttons and flips switches. The plane goes into a nosedive.
Which is where we are today. You don't put a guy like this in control.

He is President Doom Everything he touches goes bad. And nothing is his fault. He took an energy-independent country and turned it into a nation begging Saudi Arabia and Venezuela for oil. Gasoline prices hit the roof and inflation soared. But it is not his fault.

He forgot how he preened on Day One of his presidency, launching his war on domestic produced energy in favor of his Green Dream of a fossil fuel free world. Biden, John Kerry, his climate change czar, and the progressives would have you believe that the world will come to an end unless their anti-fossil fuel agenda adopted.

Yes, the world may come to an end. But the chances are the end will come sooner from the unleashing of nuclear weapons then it will come from the use of fossil fuels. But you do not hear politicians like Biden or Kerry talk much about doing away with nuclear weapons. On the contrary. Biden is reopening nuclear negotiations with Iran which will eventually lead to the Iranians having a nuclear bomb. This is the country where its religious fanatics have promised to use its first nuclear weapon on Israel and the second on the United States. If I were to bet, I would wager on the world ending in a nuclear bang before closing out in a fossil fuel whimper. Meanwhile, the rest of the world keeps pumping away, and the American people suffer. But it is not Biden's fault. It is Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine who is to blame, not Joe Biden.

Joe Biden took a working and strict border policy left to him by Donald Trump and turned it into a humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from countries around the world are pouring into the United States and nobody is stopping them. And many of them are dying along the way. Bidens's decision to do away with border enforcement has also greatly facilitated the smuggling tons of drugs into the county, including deadly fentanyl from China that is killing many unsuspecting Americans. But that is not his fault either. It was Trump's racist border policy that caused all the problems. Besides, he assigned Kamala Harris to get to the root of the problem.

Biden also authored the ill-conceived and humiliating pullout from Afghanistan, causing the unnecessary death of 13 Americans at the chaotic Kabul airport, leaving hundreds of Americans, abandoning thousands of Afghan allies, and throwing he country into the chaotic hands of the Taliban. Naturally, he blamed Trump, which nobody bought The next thing you know Joe Biden will be blaming Putin for the Supreme Court's decision to send the abortion issue back to the states. Putin somehow must have gotten Trump to appoint three conservatives to the court in order to roil the country.

According to Biden, the "one thing" that has destabilized the country under his leadership has not been soaring gasoline prices, inflation, the open border, the shameful retreat in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, the frightening rising crime rate or the pandemic, but "the outrageous behavior" of the Supreme Court on the abortion issue.

The court did not destabilize the country. Joe Biden did. This man does not belong in the cockpit.

Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.

New Easter frock

 https://www.talbots.com/talbots-effortless-jersey-tie-detail-floral-dress/P231036224.html?

  

Update:  I wore this on Easter Sunday, and purchased a dark navy short jacket to wear with it at a resale shop--for $2.00, although I'm going to look for something else.  Fits well, and I'm glad I bought it.  Perhaps the best thing was it didn't cost me anything.  It was on sale, with "take another 25% off, and I had a $20 off coupon and a store credit from a Christmas gift, so it came to zero.

Remembering elementary school teachers (two schools)

 I tossed all my blogging notebooks several weeks ago as part of my Lenten house cleaning.  That's where I kept my notes while reading the Wall St. Journal and the Columbus Dispatch back in the day when I still went out for coffee every morning.   I pulled out one sheet that had information for 2005 and 2006.  It was about i-pad ear, and apparently younger and younger patients with hearing loss are turning up at doctors' offices, according to WSJ 1-10-06.  It seems there were 38 million MP3 players shipped in 2005.  However, when I turned over the sheet, I had started a list of all the teachers I could remember.  I checked my blog, and it seems I never finished what I'd started. I think I was doing a Thursday 13. So, let's try that:

Miss Marguerite Flora, First grade, she lived across the street from us with her parents. I wrote a blog about her when she died at 99. Collecting My Thoughts

Mrs. Greta (?) Huntley, Second grade.  She attended the same Lutheran church we did. I visited the church sometime in the 80s and she remembered me 40 years later.

Miss DeWall, Third grade (my favorite teacher of all times) As I recall, she died rather young, when I was in college.

Mrs. Hiteman, Fourth grade, very young, newly married.

Miss Michael, Fifth and sixth grade, she also had taught my father in Polo, Illinois. She lived with her sister about a block from our house.

Miss Jennie DeGraff, principal, and she apparently knew my grandmother because she was in her address book

Mr. John I. Masterson, superintendent, JoElla's father.  In retirement he was the pastor at Pinecrest, and lived in Mt. Morris.

Mrs. Beth Amsrud, music; she was like a circuit rider and taught in Forreston, Mt. Morris, Oregon, plus the country schools.  Used to put on charming musicals--great fun.

Our family moved from Forreston to Mt. Morris in March 1951.

Mrs. Beth or Betsy (?) Withers, sixth grade. I have her in a class photo MMHS1957: The old elementary school

Mr. Ray Appler, nor sure where he fit in--perhaps came in to teach math. Later Supt. of Schools Ogle Co., WWII veteran, Marines.  Photo at our 50th class reunion along with Katie Dirksen and Warren Reckmeyer.

Mr. David Rahn.  He taught the other 7th grade students, but our class had him, too.

Mrs. Verna Westfall, 7th grade. Class photo. MMHS1957: Mrs. Westfall's 7-A class 1952

Mrs. Mamie Knodle, 8th grade home economics.

Mrs. Rosella Opsand (Warren) Burstrom, 8th grade.  She also directed class plays when we were in high school, and Warren was our physics and chemistry teacher. Died young (1981). 

That's 15, but if I left out the two principals, I'd have a Thursday 13.

Underserved actually means overserved by government

What Democrats and their bureaucracy call "underserved" means under the heavy thumb of government programs. They are so "overserved" by the various 120+ wealth transfer programs, they can't afford to work, buy or rent in a better neighborhood, or take a promotion at work in fear of losing their "benefits." That word "underserved" may be one of the most deceptive in government-speak.

Here are the "underserved" amounts: Federal spending programs that are "designed to transfer income ... to individuals or families" are set to hit a record $3,223,943,000,000 in fiscal 2020, according to projections published by the Office of Management and Budget.

These so-called "payments for individuals" (as the OMB calls them) are projected to account for 67.9% of all federal spending  [fiscal year 2020] and consume 14.4% of the nation's gross domestic product.

$3.22 Trillion: Federal Programs That 'Transfer Income' Projected to Hit Record in FY20 | CNSNews

"More government benefits result in less private wealth, especially for the non‐​rich. It is not just Social Security and Medicare that displaces private saving, but also unemployment insurance, welfare, and other social spending. Some social programs have “asset tests” that deliberately discourage saving.

Total federal and state social spending as a share of gross domestic product soared from 6.8 percent in 1970 to 14.3 percent in 2018. That increase in handouts occurred over the same period that wealth inequality appears to have increased. Generations of Americans have grown up assuming that the government will take care of them when they are sick, unemployed, and retired, so they put too little money aside for future expenses." How the Government Creates Wealth Inequality | Cato Institute

More on Masking

Cochrane, the gold standard, has twice (2020 and 2023) shown that masks are not effective in stopping the transmission of the virus SARS-CoV-2. Progressives/socialists/Democrats still can't let go. So, what's up with that? They want to believe they can control the virus (although they've done a very poor job) and thus control people. These people are obsessed.

 
"In his recent City Journal piece on the 2023 Cochrane review, John Tierney asks, “Can anything persuade the maskaholics in the public-health establishment and the public to give up their obsession?” The answer, plainly, is no. Their faith transcends reason." https://www.city-journal.org/the-mask-of-ignorance?

Opinion | The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Here is the editor of Cochrane back peddling so she won't have her career cancelled. Cochrane Says Review Does Not Show That ‘Face Masks Don’t Work’ Against Covid-19 (forbes.com)

In 2020 I searched every 2 weeks or so, and never found a single study that supported the idea that mask could prevent the spread of Covid.  So did Cochrane, but the 2023 article is an update. Do Masks Work? What the Cochrane Review Can and Can’t Tell Us (health.com)

Masks Cochrane review: There’s still not strong evidence for masks’ effectiveness. (slate.com)

I know only two people personally who died of Covid. I'd say 99.99% of the ones who have had Covid I even know remotely or only by name, have survived, and most of those were vaxxed and boosted, but still got the disease. Of the two I did know one was 84 and one was 82. That's the highest risk factor--age.  I don't know if they had other conditions that might have contributed to respiratory problems.  One was fully vaxxed and boosted and very careful about exposure, usually masked.  The other was not vaxxed or boosted, but was careful in the common-sense ways--like crowds, hand washing, etc. I think the one thing they had in common was their medical care--both treated at small community hospitals. The websites and media that won't discuss or consider the failure of masks are also predominantly left of center and will interpret the article and research in that light.  No, with this disease, you can't follow the science, because in the last decade, science has been politicized. This disease has put a lot of power into the hands of a few, and huge fortunes have been made both in government and private industry.   It may take years to straighten it all out, but if these mandates aren't removed our freedoms will always be threatened,

Biden wants employers to have no conscience rights.

"Obamacare requires employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs in their insurance plans. After years of litigation and action by the Trump administration, there are exemptions for employers with religious or moral objections. But the Biden administration is now moving to revoke the moral exemption. If it succeeds, groups that aren't explicitly religious but object to abortions on moral grounds will be forced to pay for them anyway. . .

 
"After multiple Supreme Court cases – including the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor victories – faith-based organizations and businesses that object to the HHS mandate on religious grounds are exempt. And after the Trump administration implemented a rule protecting them, so are non-religious organizations and businesses which object only on moral grounds."

How blood thirsty is Biden? Doesn't want even one little one protected by a Trump decision to get her right to life.

Biden Admin Restarts HHS Mandate Wars: Here’s How Catholics Can Fight Back - CatholicVote org

Seminar on DEI/DIE

 In his seminar on DEI/DIE James Lindsay mentions a post WWII training unit for the military to reduce discrimination and racial tension. It was pulled by 1950 because using the confess and confront style failed and caused more tension and racism. Unfortunately, Lindsay says, it's the very method that's been continued by today's grifters who call themselves the DEI/DIE experts.

https://newdiscourses.com/2023/03/marxist-roots-dei-session-1-equity/?

The Marxist Roots of DEI - Session 2: Diversity - New Discourses

"Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives have taken over the country, reaching into every aspect of our work, school, and lives. What is “DEI,” though? New Discourses founder James Lindsay explains the idea and its history in unprecedented depth in this new series from an in-person workshop in Miami, Florida, breaking down each of the three letters in detail. What we’ll find is that it’s a contemporary and managerial repackaging of socialism.

In this second episode of the series, following from his discussion of equity as (expanded) socialism, Lindsay articulates that “Diversity” initiatives are rooted in the goal of installing ideologically consistent political officers within organizations to effect and enforce policies directed toward achieving equity. These political officers, often called “Diversity Officers,” are in fact a rebranding of the older concept of commissars, who enforced socialism in the same way. Understanding Diversity in this regard is relatively easy, but how did we get here in America? The answer is bad judicial interpretation of Civil Rights laws that center “disparate impact” rather than intention as evidence of discrimination. Join James Lindsay as he walks you through the history and philosophy of the Diversity scam."

The Left can be very, very vicious

 Julie Hartman, a student at Harvard, wasn't very political, but like most college students, she was "liberal."  Never even thought there's another way.  She came across Prager U and Dennis Prager, and through his radio program had an epiphany. She's a conservative now, and in 2022 her description of a senior trip to Israel came out in which she defended America and criticized her generation, her classmates at Harvard on the trip, for their ignorance about our history. They are using their freedom to destroy freedom she said.  https://youtu.be/6iD09hBRL-Q

She was invited to appear on Prager's radio show, and when she did and her Harvard classmates found out, they were outraged and got really nasty.  But after some soul searching, she decided "coming out of the closet" was much less painful than holding back. She graduated in 2022, and now has her own podcast called Timeless. Timeless with Julie Hartman on Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/0xtv8XtjzdA  Her senior address at Harvard "If we lose freedom here."

Today's podcast is on Iraqi society now--on the 20th anniversary of the invasion. And on Ukraine. Timeless with Julie Hartman: The War in Iraq on Apple Podcasts

20 years after the fact, Julie dissects the events that lead to the US invasion of Iraq. Topics include: Defiant Putin visits Mariupol in first trip to occupied eastern Ukraine, the facts on ‘De-Nazifying’ Ukraine, and the long battle over Crimea; HHS Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine says gender affirming care will be normalized …when did tolerance become unabashed support?

  

March Madness

I'm not interested in sports/athletic events. But if I had to pick a sport to watch, it would be basketball. So, I can glance at the March Madness and feel good about it and know why big guys are chasing a little ball around. It feels good because there's still a place in the world for skill, merit, hard work, practice till you're exhausted, 2nd chances, and at least a smidgen of charisma to rise to the top. If DEI were a factor in these teams, there would be 83 year old white women demanding a place on the team because they needed more diversity, equity and inclusion.

Children in restaurants

On Facebook, sometimes people toss out a question that thousands respond to. Today I noticed this one from a minor celebrity (I remember he made a movie about 15 years ago):

Honest question #603:

"Is there anyone out there in FB-Land who would like to try and defend the practice of going to a nice, quiet restaurant and allowing a child (or oneself) to watch a movie on a tablet (or phone) with the volume turned up LOUD for all nearby to hear (if they want to or not)? So loud that that those sitting near you can no longer hear the house music?

In my sphere, this seems to be happening with increasing frequency. Is this becoming an epidemic, or… is it just me? Is this just the new normal? Just curious, please feel free to rebuke me at will… I am all ears, truly…"

My response:  I haven't had that experience, but I do remember taking our toddlers to restaurants occasionally (early 1970s), and other customers stopping by our table complimenting us on their behavior. One man at Friendly's on a Sunday morning after church (who ran a different restaurant) actually picked up our tab because he'd seen so many poorly behaved children at his restaurant. So, it must have been the same back then, but not with our family.

Ben Carson Podcast--Aaron Kheriaty

Dr. Ben Carson has a podcast, and here he interviews Dr. Aaron Kheriaty who has a new book, "The new abnormal; the rise of the biomedical security state." We're now about 1100 days into 2 weeks to flatten the curve. In 2019, none of us would have believed what we've been through since early 2020, the liberties we've lost. (I had a "fact check" splashed across my post about Tucker's showing the security footage about J-6). Although Biden has announced the pandemic was over, none of the emergencies, federal, state or corporate have been sun downed. Our churches can be closed again, and our pastors and boards haven't organized to stop it. They should.

 
https://youtu.be/pnu5o4gOT1o

Home | Aaron Kheriaty, MD He lost his job at University of California for publishing an article in WSJ on the medical ethics of these lockdowns/lockouts. Much more is known now, than 3 months ago when this podcast was recorded. He's been vindicated, but still had to start his career over.

"Lockdowns were never part of conventional public health measures. In 1968, an estimated one to four million people died in the H2N3 influenza pandemic; businesses and schools stayed open and large events were never cancelled. Until 2020 we had not previously locked down entire populations. We did not do this before because it does not work; and it inflicts enormous collateral damage."

"Actual contagion risk depended on the total time spent in a room with an infected person and was mitigated by opening windows and other methods of improved ventilation, not by staying six feet apart. Plastic protective barriers erected everywhere actually increased the risk of viral spread by impeding good ventilation. We had already been psychologically primed for over a decade to accept pseudo-scientific practices of social distancing by using digital devices to limit human interactions."

"Since the 1980s, reported loneliness among adults in the US increased from 20 percent to 40 percent even before the pandemic. Loneliness is associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, premature death, and violence. It affects health in ways comparable to smoking or obesity, increasing a whole host of health risks and decreasing life expectancy. . . "
The Quarantine of Healthy Populations ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Covid Student Loan Relief

You know, of course, about Biden's plan to forgive students loans and make people who never went to college or who already paid for their college (like the Bruces) pay for those who did borrow. But did you know how much the "pause" or Covid Emergency Relief and Federal Student Aid is costing us? $255 Billion as of March. The good thing is, it makes the $75 billion given to Ukraine not look so bad, right? President Trump began the pause, to last through December 30, 2020. Biden continued it, even though he says the pandemic is over, and even though employers can't find workers to earn the money to pay their loans. It's all part of the inflation which caused the Fed to raise interest rates to cool the economy, which in turn is helping create the bank crisis (and bad management, but that's another story). Everything is connected to everything else. The lockdown's damages in increased death, debts, and divisions among families and friends will not be known for years.

Trump Suspends Student Loan Payments Through December 31 (forbes.com)

Student Loan Forgiveness Debacle Has Already Cost $255 Billion in Lost Federal Revenue - Minding The Campus

In May 2020 silencing alternate viewpoints was a threat

In May 2020 when our alliance between government and academe was leery of Trump and his populism/power, Harvard International Review could publish this: 

"In a time when accurate, scientific information is vital to the well-being of populations around the world, silencing independent media and dissidents is counterproductive. Since the pandemic has hit, the International Press Institute has reported hundreds of violations of media freedom. Radical transparency in communication should be the norm; part of the success of countries like Taiwan and Canada stems from their clear communication about government efforts."

Canada? What a joke.

Later with Biden in power, transparency and independent media were a threat to his freedom strangling administration, and all alternate viewpoints had to be fired, deplatformed or tracked for being against "democracy."

https://hir.harvard.edu/covid-authoritarianism/?