Getting ready for summer

 We've uncovered the deck furniture and washed off the tabletop and chair webbing. Today we enjoyed an early birthday celebration with a friend.  His 90th. His children are throwing a party in June, but it will be the first day of our vacation, so we won't be in town.  The guys met at church in 1967, so that's about 57 years of friendship with Ron. He and his wife whom he met at Upper Arlington high school died four years ago. Dinner was grilled salmon, steamed cauliflower and asparagus, mixed fresh fruit and Key Lime Pie. We actually ate inside because there was a very noisy machine spewing ear splitting sounds across the creek, then after it quieted down we went outside to enjoy the lovely spring weather.

Biggest Week in American Birding

Yesterday I wore my green-gray BSBO t-shirt to the gym. Black Swamp Bird Observatory. Today is the last day of "The Biggest Week in American Birding" hosted by BSBO and last weekend we were in Lakeside for an art workshop (observing, not teaching) and some of the activities were there. I picked up a visitor's guide and could spend a month perusing it. https://www.facebook.com/bsbobird/ or BSBO - HOME

Here's just one useful article: How you can help birds. Keep cats indoors. Don't release balloons. Discard used fishing line. Take a beginner birding. Drink Bird-friendly shade-grown coffee. Protect windows from collisions.

Cats kill an estimated 2.4 billion birds every year. Birders don't like wind turbines or giant glass windows on buildings, but they don't kill as many birds as cats.

I'm not a birder, and I can probably only identify 25 birds, and mostly I learned those names when I was a child. Not sure how, perhaps my mom or my teachers. Here at my living room window at my computer I see herons and mallards, owls and woodpeckers, hawks and crows, cardinals, robins, wrens and doves. Some get on the windowsill and look at me! And of course, when we were up on Lake Erie we saw many species not common around here. More than 3 dozen species of warblers pass through northwest Ohio and the BSBO tracks them.

Mother's Day Painting

 

  

On the lakefront by the Hotel Lakeside

Tip your server and other nice things to do

This is a very nice message. My friend Arlene sent it. However, that's not all there is to changing the world. I know many Democrats who do all of these, yet they support abortion, don't care about 7 million invading the U.S. through the open Biden borders, think Hamas means Palestinians, don't care about the issues of the Russia-Ukraine war, watch the terrible misinformation that spews from the Democrat controlled media like CNN, NPR and MSNBC, contribute to their alma mater despite the raging anti-Semitism embedded there, believe men can become women through magical thinking, and believe what they are doing to President Trump through the "just -us" system is OK. Think before you vote. That's how we change things in this country, assuming no one has stolen it through a Soros funded scheme.

Who wrote Ephesians?

Recently I heard a Bible teaching on Ephesians. When speaking of who is the author of the letter to the Ephesians, she suggested that Paul wasn't the actual author, that instead it may have been a disciple or someone closely working with him, and then she went on. . . without mentioning the option that it is not "settled" science and there are just as many arguments and scholars for Pauline authorship. When I got home I looked at what books I might have to explain that. Unfortunately, although I knew that line of thinking comes from "higher criticism," I no longer have any of those volumes. Here's what I do have, and also my own conclusions.

I have an IVP New Bible Commentary; Revised by Guthrie. He explains the higher criticism view of Ephesians, but completely debunks it point by point (p. 1106)

I have an NIV Archeological Bible, and its article "The Authorship of Ephesians" under subsection "The Reliability of the Bible," points out "some scholars" question Paul's authorship and then supports Paul's authorship with 8 bullet points with citations.

I have an NRSV Catholic edition which confirms that speaker, "It is unlikely that the Letter to the Ephesians was actually written by Paul. It is generally thought to be pseudonymous written after his death. The vocabulary, style and general content of the Letter do not resonate with the same expression and viewpoint articulated in the seven unquestionably Pauline letters." In other words, what most seminaries are teaching their new pastors and church workers. That's from the "Introduction to the Books of the Bible" ( p. lxxi), and it's difficult to say if the same wording is in the Protestant editions (this one contains the Deuterocanonical books removed in the 16th c.) It also provides the higher criticism view of 3 Isaiahs, and casts doubt on the authorship of other NT epistles.

So then I turned to my most scholarly title, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. 1910 which I inherited from my grandfather Weybright. It really laid out in detail the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries research primarily by German Protestants beginning with the OT and working through most of the NT, until the rationalist, anti-supernatural, post-Christian theories had infected all the seminaries, and because of the date, did not include the rise of the fundamentalists and the major splits in Protestantism. Yet it would not fly the white flag and roundly defended Paul's authorship. Perhaps the most clever and witty paragraph was: "The view which denies the Pauline authorship of Ephesians has to suppose the existence of a great literary artist and profound theologian, able to write an epistle worthy of Paul at his best, who, without betraying any recognizable motive, presented to the world in the name of Paul an imitation of Colossians, incredibly laborious and yet superior to the original in literary workmanship and power of thought, and bearing every appearance of earnest sincerity. It must further be supposed that the name and the very existence of this genius were totally forgotten in Christian circles fifty years after he wrote. The balance of evidence seems to lie on the side of the genuineness of the Epistle.

From my point of view, I looked through some of the homilies of the early church fathers. They were much closer to the "real" author than German scholars who weren't even Christians. They did not doubt the authorship of Paul.

Biden official accused of transferring classified documents on his phone

"The top Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committee on Monday asked the State Department to confirm the allegations against [Robert] Malley, who was quietly placed on unpaid leave last June [2023] and had his security clearance suspended amid a State Department investigation reportedly centered on his potential mishandling of classified information.

 
The State Department has refused to reveal the exact nature of the allegations against Malley, leading Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member James Risch (R-Idaho) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) to launch their own investigation into Biden’s top diplomat for Iran. "

Very serious stuff! He got the Biden garage treatment for documents instead of the Trump treatment. It's been since June 2023.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/07/us-news/biden-iran-envoy-put-classified-documents-on-hacked-personal-email-phone-gop-lawmakers/?

GOP lawmakers allege Biden's Iran envoy kept classified material on personal email, cellphone that were hacked (msn.com)

"Biden tapped Malley in January 2021 to try to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, under which Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain a nuclear weapon in return for economic sanctions relief. In 2018, President Trump opted to kill the deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran."

Biden’s suspended Iran special envoy once pushed engagement with Hamas, Hezbollah terror groups | Fox News

Notice how carefully worded Politico (leftist media) is in the story. FBI probes whether Iran envoy Malley committed crimes in handling of classified info - POLITICO

Is Biden demented or does he want to destroy Israel?

Let's stop making excuses for Biden. He's old. He's demented. He's just a puppet. No. He's just abandoned our closest ally in the middle east, and maybe our closest in the world. Our friends know we will abandon them; our enemies know we won't fight back.

If you are a Democrat, flee the party so you're not culpable like the driver of the car that chauffeurs the gunman. This is not about Israel any longer; it's about wanting to destroy the Jews.

"When Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, rape, kidnap, and murder killing spree against Israeli civilians, President Joe Biden quickly traveled to Israel and pledged that America would have its longtime ally’s back. Since then, he has repeatedly affirmed his “ironclad” commitment to the security of the Jewish state.

But the “ironclad” pledge should concern Baltic states as they face Vladimir Putin’s invasion threats. It should also concern the Philippines as it faces Chinese efforts to carve out an exclusive economic zone. And it should concern Japan as it faces Chinese and Russian affronts to its territorial sovereignty. Because Biden’s support for Israel is molten rather than ironclad.

This Monday, national security spokesman John Kirby refused to say whether the U.S. suspended an agreed arms shipment to Israel and also refused to offer American support for Israel’s effort to eliminate Hamas’s last bastion in Rafah."   https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2993208/biden-abandons-israel/?

Thoughts on Ben Sira

Ben Sira (also known as Ecclesiasticus or Sirach) is part of the Apocrypha, or more accurately the Deuterocanonical books of the Bible. I've only been in one Bible study that even mentioned this lovely collection of proverbs, wise sayings, advice and counsel to all types of people from physicians to fool. And the female leader (on video) of that class railed against the writer/translator as being a misogynist. Not so. It's a lovely book, and I really like the longer advice pieces. As far as being anti-female, what's wrong with this advice? It's directed at men and how they behave around women.

 
Chapter 9: 3 Keep away from other men's wives or they will trap you. 4 Don't keep company with female musicians; they will trick you. 5 Don't look too intently at a virgin, or you may find yourself forced to pay a bride price. 6 Don't give yourself to prostitutes, or you may lose everything you own. 7 So don't go looking about in the streets or wandering around in the run-down parts of town. 8 When you see a good-looking woman, look the other way; don't let your mind dwell on the beauty of any woman who is not your wife."

 
That advice would work in the 21st century.

But more to the point. If 7% of Sirach is addressed to problems with women, then that means the other 93% is addressed to problems with men. What do Paul and Jesus lay at the feet of men (to whom they were talking) Well, how about Mark 7: greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, arrogance, folly, evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, and blasphemy for starters. Paul was just as straightforward as Jesus: Colossians 3: 8: "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. "

Abraham was a liar; Noah was a drunkard; Moses lost his temper and killed a man; Elijah was despondent; David was an adulterer and murderer; Peter denied his Lord; Paul (Saul) chased down Christians and killed them. Thomas doubted. So, it seems the Bible doesn't always reflect well on men, yet they were all part of God's plan of redemption.

I don't recall where I read it, but Luther and Calvin didn't remove those 7 books from the Protestant canon. Later Reformers did that.

CyberCemetery an amazing burial ground for defunct government programs

The CyberCemetery is an archive of government web sites that have ceased operation (usually web sites of defunct government agencies and commissions that have issued a final report). This collection features a variety of topics indicative of the broad nature of government information. In particular, this collection features web sites that cover topics supporting the university's curriculum and particular program strengths.  CyberCemetery - UNT Digital Library

Collections - UNT Digital Library

Don't call the police

What happens when you call the police and they won't come? It's Just Deserts. Police have been maligned and criticized by Democrat politicians, and DC is a town owned by Democrats. George Washington University's students and faculty will just have to suffer at the hands of a minority of spoiled brats and foreigners who need to have their visas pulled. The anti-Jew encampments are illegal at all universities, they are not covered by "free speech" codes. President Ellen Granberg of GW did nothing when the anti-Israel riots started and she's paying for it now. Appeasement of the enemy rarely works. The whole nation sees how these snowflakes are being treated differently that the J-6 protestors. I hope they remember come voting time--assuming the Democrats still allow that.

D.C. Police for Campus Disorder - WSJ

GW president says school needs help from DC police as protesters call for beheadings (ktvo.com)

Live coverage: Encampment begins 11th day without bargaining from officials, students say – The GW Hatchet

How many ways can Republicans find to destroy their unity, party and nation?

Well, let's fight about a Republican governor who wrote in her book that she shot her dog (aka "put him/her down")--a dog that had escaped restraint, killed chickens, couldn't be controlled by the owner, and tried to bite her when finally stopped. I'm not a breeder of hunting dogs, not a trainer, and not an owner. I like dogs--always had one when I was a child. However, this dog was not safe if left to live out a "normal" life around people and other animals.

Yes, it's more sanitary and maybe humane to take him to the vet, and not see the death. But we're on the edge of World War III, we're being invaded by millions at our border, the privileged class college students are rioting in the streets, the Dept. of Justice has become a political tool of the Democrats. We can turn on the TV and see a mockery of our once admired court system by an out of control Democrat judge with serious mental issues and a Democrat, Soros backed, DA so filled with hate he can't do his job.

The death of a dog with an irresponsible owner just doesn't make my list of tragedies we are facing today. I can't find a link, but I learned this years ago probably when I was a veterinary medicine librarian. The #1 killer of pet dogs and cats is elimination problems (peeing in the house). UTIs, incontinence, fear, poor training, or anger at being left alone for 12 hours--it could be any number of triggers which become habits. Owners get frustrated, can't take the time or have the patience to work with the animal, and it goes to the pound where it will be killed. Sounds awful, doesn't it? Millions suffer death at the hands of the owner--just look up the hundreds of products for "pet odor" and think about what the next step is if you want a livable house, but you have a life--a job to go to--kids to raise. But the death of ONE dog will probably ruin the career of a good governor.

Friday Night Date and a Derby Party on Saturday

We tried the "new" Old Bag of Nails (pub food, noisy bar) in Upper Arlington last night with 2 other couples. The Arlington Bag had moved from the Tremont Center near our former home on Abington Rd. to that messy scramble of partially built buildings at Kingsdale on Tremond Rd. Because of the congestion and parking, we'd avoided it up until now, but we all managed.  We found a handicap spot as we were drivers for someone who needed that. There was a lively crowd, lots of middle age and some families. Since it is in a retirement building (Covenant) squished next to the new community center we weren't sure what to expect. The menu was much as we remembered from 25 years ago, and we got the Cobb Salad. The others ordered breaded fish (one order can easily serve 2 and hand helds. 

We asked the waitress to guess the combined years of marriage, but she failed the test. 185. 56 + 64 + 65. We tipped her anyway. She was very sweet and very young--but then, everyone looks young to me! It was an evening with a lot if reminiscing--the days of black and white TV, the old wringer washers, Bill and Joyce met because he was in the Army in the town where she lived, and the rest of us avoided the military because we were pregnant or had a baby, first jobs, first apartments, and most of that was over home-made apple pie with ice cream at Jerry and Joan's home after our restaurant meal. We all get together fairly often, so I don't know why we had so much story telling. Age I suppose. No one else to talk to who remembers this stuff--plus our kids are tired of our stories!  We all have or had summer homes and Bill and Joyce will be leaving in a week or so for Put in Bay on Lake Erie. Jerry and Joan go to Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan.  We sold our place in Lakeside on Lake Erie in 2022 after 34 years.

We're going to a Derby party tonight May 4, and I've been wearing the same fuchsia hat for about 5 years. Today I found a new white floppy hat for $3 (still with store tags) at Volunteers of America and wrapped it in blue flowers from the old hat to go with my blue shirt and multicolor floor length skirt I got at the Discovery Shop (cancer) for $6. 

And while I was looking for a hat at the VOA, I just happened to see a Laurel Burch tote for $3. I have one of her umbrellas from 30 years ago. https://colorfulcritters.com/laurel-burch-handbags-totes/ I don't know if it's an old one or new one (she died in 2007) licensed with her name. It looked unused. I love her whimsical designs.

While I was at the VOA I asked the clerk for a tape measure so I could determine if a cute pair of light weight summer pants would fit. She didn't speak English, which has never happened to me in that store. She gestured to the store manager, who also spoke very little English, but figured out what I needed. They were fine. $3.

Now I need to look up the horses who are running, and who are the jockeys.   We each place a $2 bet.

Kentucky Derby 2024: Meet the jockeys in Saturday’s classic (horseracingnation.com)

The 2024 Kentucky Derby lineup features a competitive field of colts and jockeys. Here’s a look at the full lineup:

1. Dornoch (20-1) - Trainer: Danny Gargan, Jockey: Luis Saez
2. Sierra Leone (3-1) - Trainer: Chad Brown, Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione
3. Mystik Dan (20-1) - Trainer: Kenneth McPeek, Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
4. Catching Freedom (8-1) - Trainer: Brad Cox, Jockey: Flavien Prat
5. Catalytic (30-1) - Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr., Jockey: Jose Ortiz
6. Just Steel (20-1) - Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas, Jockey: Keith Asmussen
7. Honor Marie (20-1) - Trainer: D. Whitworth Beckman, Jockey: Ben Curtis
8. Just A Touch (10-1) - Trainer: Brad Cox, Jockey: Florent Geroux
9. (Encino, scratched)
10. T O Password (30-1) - Trainer: Daisuke Takayanagi, Jockey: Kazushi Kimura
11. Forever Young (10-1) - Trainer: Yoshito Yahagi, Jockey: Ryusei Sakai
12. Track Phantom (20-1) - Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Jockey: Joel Rosario
13. West Saratoga (50-1) - Trainer: Larry Demeritte, Jockey: Jesus Castanon
14. Endlessly (30-1) - Trainer: Michael McCarthy, Jockey: Umberto Rispoli
15. Domestic Product (30-1) - Trainer: Chad Brown, Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
16. Grand Mo the First (50-1) - Trainer: Victor Barboza Jr., Jockey: Emisael Jaramillo
17. Fierceness (5-2) - Trainer: Todd Pletcher, Jockey: John Velazquez
18. Stronghold (20-1) - Trainer: Philip D’Amato, Jockey: Antonio Fresu
19. Resilience (20-1) - Trainer: Bill Mott, Jockey: Junior Alvarado
20. Society Man (50-1) - Trainer: Danny Gargan, Jockey: Frankie Dettori
21. Epic Ride (50-1) - Trainer: John Ennis, Jockey: Adam Beschizza

  

These are not race horses, but may be the first original art I purchased. Artist is Alison Adams, and I purchased it at Manchester College.  1958. She may have been on the faculty.

Let's hear from the Christian churches on biological sex as it is in the Bible

The Catholic Church has spoken unambiguously: the idea that men can become women or women can become men—or any other “gender”—is not only confused; it is evil.

Now let's hear from the 35,000+ Protestant, non-denominational and Bible churches. All Christian churches are full of Democrats and this evil belongs to them.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek at CPAC Hungary: The Great Replacement Is No Longer A Theory, It's Reality

https://rumble.com/v4rxqj8-eva-vlaardingerbroek-the-great-replacement-april-27-2024-budapest-hungary.html 

Her name is a mouthful, but she's even harder to listen to. The leftists have been ridiculing "The Great Replacement" theory, but she says it's a fact.  I haven't checked her statistics on immigration in Europe.

Follow the money given to the universities

These demonstrations/riots/insurrections from UCLA to Columbia show what a huge FAIL the DEI departments and cabals at the universities are. They all have 150-200 "administrators" and assistants to assistants sucking from the federal tit of special grants. Then each department from dance to archeology to horse breeding has a faculty member tied up in paperwork to assure equity a fantasy. And this is what has come of it. 1) cheat the Asian students out of their freedom to choose a school, 2) kill the Jews, 3) blame all white people. If you teach children that there are only two kinds of people, oppressors and the oppressed, of course you collect a bunch of fascists looking for a cause. Soros has placed a lot of his lawyers in the halls of "just us" and you can watch that being played out in NYC in a court room right now. The next trick will be all the perps will be back on campus after a short trip to court.

Although a lot of bad ideas begin in government, most by far begin in academe. Many universities would close without the money they receive from foreign governments who have to pay full tuition for their students.

The campus riots

I was at the gym this morning surfing the channels. Fox was wall to wall riots on campus, particularly how police (state police?) were handling the UCLA baby babbling Gazans. Everyone was very well behaved. Kids were grinning for the cameras. "Hey look mom; I'm on TV. Send money" (just kidding). Police were using plastic ties and removing masks. MSNBC and CNN, zip, nada, zilch. Lizzie Warren was talking about sending aid to Gaza and encouraging women to kill their babies. There was a celebrity on the other channel talking about his latest food routine or show--didn't stick around to find out. On Fox I could see that the tents were removed and all the "belongings" dumped in a pile of trash, just like removal of homeless. And that's what they are, except the homeless are probably more patriotic and less fascist than these protestors. And maybe these spoiled rich college kids chanting from the river to the sea (genocide) can find out what it means to defecate and urinate on the street, because I don't know if anyone has set up porta-potties for them after they are arrested.

Police crack down on encampment at UCLA protests; live protest updates (usatoday.com)

WATCH LIVE: Police controlling crowd of anti-Israel agitators on UCLA quad after violent mob riots rocked campus | Fox News Video

The real estate market

I know people looking for houses, and realtors looking for listings. Yesterday in an elevator I met a guy in shorts and t-shirt carrying a bag of food. We chatted, and he apologized for using his phone--said it was his business. He told me he was a real estate agent working as an Uber-Eats delivery/driver to make ends meet. I admire that perseverance and dedication. The ups and downs of real estate are not always about Biden induced inflation, sometimes it's personal choices, but I believe this ridiculous market should send Democrats screaming away from their party.

Biden's folly--IX changes

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a single sentence. It simply bars sex discrimination in any federally funded education program. See what happens in a bureaucracy, in the swamp? The latest disaster is 1,577 pages. Both parties have created a monster, but the Democrats have defied God, nature, science and history. Nothing more evil than that. The party of intersectionality, of wokeism, of feminism, of transparency, of "me too" and rich old fools has dealt a death blow to women's safety and equality in scholarships and ambition. Way to go, Biden.

That Was Fast: 3 Federal Lawsuits Challenge New Title IX Rule (dailysignal.com)

Government bureaucracy drowning in failed programs and thousands of reports--Head Start

While I've been watching the Soros' funded fascist professionals create chaos on our campuses, I've been digging deep into the reports about Head Start, which so far has hit us up for over $1 trillion since its beginning as small test group in the LBJ era to improve the academic and life trajectory of poor children. All evaluations at 40, 50 and now almost 60 years have shown it to be a huge failure to help children succeed, but an outstanding success in providing a good living for millions of academics and government workers.

Here's one example. The culture of the TANF office. I'm pretty jaded about government waste--after all, I was a university librarian buried in task force reports and minutiae of information, data and knowledge. But this one really stunned me. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/understanding-poverty-childhood-and-family-experiences-and-tanf-office-culture-2016 

It's a long, long way from helping a 3 year old get ready for kindergarten in the hope he'll do better in math in high school. (Yes, that's what they believed in 1965). We already know what gives kids the best chance to avoid poverty--married parents who have finished high school and have jobs. It's not the culture of the office that hands out the checks.

ACF stands for Administration for Children & Families, and I think it was created to push Head Start back into infancy since it had failed so miserably to help pre-school aged children. But the genealogy of government agencies and bureaus is fuzzy and fat so I could be wrong. It happens.

The anti-Semitism riots of April 2024

BLM destroyed government buildings killing people and destroying neighborhoods.

 
Biden reaction, kid gloves.

 
Islamist fundamentalists riot, trespass, scream hate speech, interfere with transportation, education and basic human rights?

Biden reaction, look the other way.

 
Patriots demonstrate about a rigged election? An unarmed female veteran killed as a warning to the patriots?

 
Biden reaction, harass, arrest, jail and try them in Kangaroo court.

 
Need clarity? Vote Biden/Harris out of office and flee the Democrat party.

Arguing with Copilot (artificial intelligence)

AI (Co-Pilot) drives me around the bend. I asked for the 2023 household income for married couples because I wanted to update a 2017 blog. So, it provided the tax rate! I'm running out of patience, and really told them/it/her. She/he/it apologized and then gave me about 6 different ways to look at it, and said the latest was 2019! She also again told me to check the government tables. So, I looked up the U.S. Census Bureau and got the 2021-2022 tables. It's $110,800 compared to female head of household of $56,030. I suppose an academic in women's studies will whine about equity, but I know enough math to know that two people have a higher income than one person regardless of the sex. Of course, they now have multiple ways to define marriage, family, and household, so I probably will never be able to accurately update my 2017 blog. In case you didn't know, Asian households are still the wealthiest, the best educated, and more likely to be married.

Indiana trip April 27

We had a wonderful visit with our Indiana family Saturday, good weather for travel, and lots of laughs, and there were about 16 of us. One nephew has 5 children, so that upped the count a little. I took along a lot of Mother's Day cards hoping they can be distributed--I know they'll all show up at the home of my sister-in-laws. We were all exhausted when we got back -- it's about 6 hours on the road for a short visit, but we all had fun.

                                                             Bob and me with his sister

A message from President Carter of Ohio State University

 "I value and welcome free speech. I have spoken to this since the day I arrived here at Ohio State. As many of you know, I wore the cloth of our nation for 38 years to support and defend these rights. What occurred on our campus on April 25 was not about limiting free speech. It was an intentional violation of university space rules that exist so that teaching, learning, research, service and patient care can occur on our campuses without interruption.

As a public university, demonstrations, protests and disagreement regularly occur on our campus – so much so that we have trained staff and public safety professionals on-site for student demonstrations for safety and to support everyone’s right to engage in these activities. Sadly, in recent days, I have watched significant safety issues be created by encampments on other campuses across our nation. These situations have caused in-person learning and commencement ceremonies to be canceled. Ohio State’s campus will not be overtaken in this manner."

And so forth, but they did it anyway, some were students, but most were outsiders.  I don't know why they talk about negotiation.  What's to negotiate with non-students and outsiders?  They can't settle the Israel-Hamas war, and the rules for encampment were set. Other college presidents have folded immediately.  Let's see how long Carter will stand up to bullies.

https://studentlife.osu.edu/articles/finals-week-message-to-all-ohio-state-students/?

Police confirm 36 arrested at OSU anti-Israel protest Thursday night (dispatch.com)

Should I pay your child care costs?

The TV (Spectrum) was on in the background, but all I heard was not only am I supposed to pay their college loans, but I need to pay for their mom and dad's cost to go to work by paying for child care for their little ones.  Governor announces details on Child Care access program (spectrumnews1.com)

Let's think about this. I didn't have any college loans to pay back at high interest rates, and I didn't have any daycare costs because I didn't go back to work as a librarian until my kids were in school, and then only part time so I was home when they were. Many parents don't pay these costs--except for other's kids. Maybe they juggle schedules with a spouse or drop the kids off at Grandma's, or wait like I did. 

I have 2 female relatives who run a daycare in their homes so they can raise their own children, and they earn much more than they would if they were employed outside the home. Why? Daycare can cost from $27,125 a year in CT to $14,813 in SD. Teachers according to BLS make $71.93 and hour and nurses $72.48 (figures include benefits). Sounds like a lot of money unless you have child care costs that the Governor of Ohio wants me to help with.

I can hear the screams now. But you lived in ancient times (1980s) and probably only had one car, one TV and no contracts for internet, cable, phone, and never went out to eat at 5x what it costs at home. Yup. And now that I can afford not to work (because I saved and invested the maximum allowed when I did work), and can afford a pedicure, a cleaning service, a vacation, and someone to do home repairs, I'm supposed to pay off someone else's living expenses so she can be a wage slave at a salary I couldn't have dreamed of. Check the BLS figures.

Update:  When AI (Copilot) started giving me vague responses like consulting a government website, I wrote: "If I wanted to spend hours looking at government sites I wouldn't be asking Copilot." So it apologized and gave me more specifics. Is it OK to be rude and snarky for something that isn't human and just a collection of data and pixels? Does the Bible cover that?

Now Thank We All Our God--again

 I love reading hymns in my morning devotions.  Sometimes I spend all my time on the opening hymn and Psalm. I own two hymnal sources, both Protestant, but often these hymns are also used in Catholic services.  Today it was Now Thank We All Our God.  I wrote about it for Thanksgiving 2022. Collecting My Thoughts: Now thank we all our God, story of a favorite hymn  Such an interesting and tragic background.  Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor, wrote it during the 30 Years War, the most devasting war in Europe's history.  The war is often called a religious war, however, it was primarily political with the various Lutheran and Catholic princes fighting each other, plus disease and starvation. It wiped out about half of the German population.

I noticed today that it was based on a benediction in Sirach (The Wisdom of Sirach or The Book of Ecclesiasticus) 50:22-24. "And now, bless the God of all/ who has done wondrous things on earth;/ Who fosters men's growth from their mother's womb,/ and fashions them according to his will!/ May he grant you joy of heart/ and may peace abide among you;/ May his goodness toward us endure in Israel/ as long as the heavens are above." 

"Martin Rinkart was a minister in the city of Eilenburg during the Thirty Years War. Apart from battles, lives were lost in great number during this time due to illnesses and disease spreading quickly throughout impoverished cities. In the Epidemic of 1637, Rinkart officiated at over four thousand funerals, sometimes fifty per day. In the midst of these horrors, it’s difficult to imagine maintaining faith and praising God, and yet, that’s exactly what Rinkart did. Sometime in the next twenty years, he wrote the hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God,” originally meant to be a prayer said before meals. Rinkart could recognize that our God is faithful, and even when the world looks bleak, He is “bounteous” and is full of blessings, if only we look for them. Blessings as seemingly small as a dinner meal, or as large as the end of a brutal war and unnecessary bloodshed are all reasons to lift up our thanks to God, with our hearts, our hands, and our voices."  https://hymnary.org/text/now_thank_we_all_our_god

Grab and Go

When I hear the word "grab" in church it just doesn't feel right. "Grab a communion cup," or "Grab your Bible and turn to (chapter verse) or "Grab your neighbor's hand and share your concerns." Really? In God's House? So, I looked up synonyms to see what else is available. Snatch. Capture. Snag. Seize. Nab. Hmmn. Proves my point--not even the synonyms sound loving, graceful, kind, charitable or spiritual. Some of you are more knowledgeable or fluent in English than I am. How would you phrase the same meaning?

Biden's Charlottesville moment

I noted that Biden had said nothing in 7 months about the riots against Jews all across the nation and on many college campuses even though he had the J6 protestors jailed. And now, ta-da! His own Charlottesville moment.

"I condemn the antisemitic protests, that’s why I set up a program to deal with that,” Biden told reporters in Virginia. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians and their — how they’re doing.”

Biden ran on the Charlottesville “good people on both sides” lie. Now in 2024 we have Joe Biden actually doing what he claimed Trump did in regards to antisemitism pic.twitter.com/IyxiY6q5Ue  — boxingMD (@BoxingMD1) April 22, 2024

But Trump didn't say what the media (and Biden) condemned him for. The reporters continued to harass him and question him, demanding that he clarify that he wasn't talking about neo-nazis. Now Biden says there are "very fine people" protesting and supporting Hamas, but he also waited 7 months. Plus the Charlottesville protest was in one place over one statue. These "hate all the Jews" protestors are condemning an entire race all over the world. And if they say it's just about Israel, why are they threatening American Jews?

Biden Sees Very Fine People on Both Sides of Campus Antisemitism (breitbart.com)

PolitiFact | In Context: Donald Trump’s ‘very fine people on both sides’ remarks (transcript)

Fact check: Meme on Trump 'very fine people' quote has inaccuracies (usatoday.com)

Fact Check: President Trump Did NOT Say Charlottesville White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis Were "Very Fine People" In 2017 | Lead Stories

The ham sandwich trial

"Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in 2023 with 34 counts of falsifying business records supposedly to cover up “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

“This case is just bogus from start to finish,” Von Spakovsky says, adding, “It’s in Manhattan. It’s a Manhattan jury, and I’ll tell you, quite frankly, I think if the DA charged Donald Trump with eating a ham sandwich, the jury would find him guilty.” "

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/04/15/why-criminal-case-against-trump-bogus-legal-expert-explains/?

I glance at the trial periodically, but it makes me ill to see our justice system fall this low.  No one else in the U.S. would ever be tried for this, and we all know it.

But what also makes me sick is that there are Democrats in Congress now who want to remove his Secret Service protection so that he can be assassinated.  

While Biden allows Islamists and their rich kid lackies from elistist schools like Columbia, Harvard, Yale and the other wannabies riot and protest and shut down traffic, he also wants us to pay off their loans. There is so much evil roaming the streets it's depressing.

Proof that Joe Biden hates women

Absolute proof that Joe Biden (or his stand-ins for Obama) hates women.

Trump reversed many of the anti-woman regulations (never voted on by Congress) developed by Obama's swamp team around Title IX. It puts men in women's private spaces--locker rooms, bathrooms, clubs, prisons, etc. If there were no other reason to vote for Trump, this would be it. 

Our Constitution allowed, in Title IX, separation and differences when sex was relevant. Now it's discrimination. The word gender with all its wokey wanky hanky panky meaning has replaced "sex" in Title IX. The regulation also affects men in that there are kangaroo courts (victim advocates) at any school that gets federal funds, even for lunch or 4-H, to use against boys and men since sexual harassment now can mean anything, such as using the wrong pronoun. The males have no right to question or to even ask for the evidence. It's impelled speech, and loss of freedom of speech. 

There will be law suits--it's been coming for 2 years and people are prepared. Donate to fight this anti-woman, anti-female, anti-Christian regulation from the Department of Education. 

It's bad for everyone. Gay or straight, black, white, brown or Asian. It's a disaster for the Constitution, which it completely bipassed. It eliminates free-speech, freedom of religion, and due process, and all the election laws which are supposed to give us a representative government. No one elected these creatures in the regulatory swamp.

Department of Education’s New Title IX Rule Just as Bad as Expected  (dailysignal.com)

Donald Trump and MAGA

Someone believes this is a great country worth saving and that's President Donald J. Trump.

 
I believe all these phony charges and ridiculous trials (NARA, Jack Smith, Fani Willis, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg) would never come to trial for any other American. Begin with the classified documents--Biden, Pence, and even Jimmy Carter all had classified documents unsecured years after they served, and vice presidents aren't allowed to take ANY, not even for their memoirs. And no one knows what Obama has because his are in a "special" NARA facility. The charges are in part to convince Trump and his supporters that this really is a country deeply flawed because the president in power can jail his opponents just like a third world country. Look how many people they've already jailed during the Biden term.

With Big Tech and Big Pharma colluding with FBI, CIA, FDA and CDC the Biden team has managed to cancel thousands of lives and ruin the education of millions of children over an unapproved vaccine and unnecessary lockdown. What great country would do that?

They want to defund the police, and emasculate the military by spending our wealth on the safety of other countries in proxy wars. They are importing drugs and gangs making every state a border state. They allow Islamists shouting death to Jews, but jail Christians if they pray in front of an abortion clinic. What great country would do that? Democrats believe former NY governor Cuomo who said, "America was not that great."

Yes, Biden and the Democrats are making a strong case against the U.S. being a great country.

Biden's campaign strategy

 

  

NPR--many kinds of truth, unless you support Trump or are a conservative

Katherine Roberts Maher hasn't been CEO of NPR very long, but she's certainly a symptom of the rot there. She used to run Wikepedia, where everyone except conservatives get to provide their own "truth." Conservative media is now providing "mash ups" of her comments before she entered the elitist disinformation land of public supported radio. I'm not on X (Twitter), but I'd guess they are making mincemeat of her.

NPR CEO Katherine Maher Says She Coordinated With Government To Censor Misinformation As CEO Of Wikipedia | Video | RealClearPolitics

50 NPR employees demand CEO Katherine Maher, editor-in-chief publicly rebuke 'factual inaccuracies' (msn.com)

American Spectator, April 17, 2024:  "What is perhaps most notable about Maher’s radicalism is how utterly conventional it is. While her posts may be exceptionally risible, her views are par for the course in most of America’s elite institutions — in many cases, they are the price of entry. Maher herself sports impeccable elite credentials: Prior to NPR, she served as CEO and executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia. According to a 2021 biography, Maher was also “a fellow at the Truman National Security Project,” has written for outlets such as Foreign Policy, the Atlantic, and the Guardian,” and serves as “a member of the Advisory Council of the Open Technology Fund and the board of the Sunlight Foundation.”

These are the people who run our country. Maher’s only distinction is that she was marginally clumsier about concealing or soft-pedaling her ideas in the public eye.

This may come as a surprise to many elected Republicans, who have happily forked over government check after government check to institutions like NPR, but we are not actually obligated to fund people and organizations that hate us. https://spectator.org/its-bigger-than-nprs-katherine-maher/?

Update from City Journal: "Maher’s prolific history on social media, which she seems to have used as a private diary, narrating her every thought, emotion, meeting, and political opinion in real-time. This archive is a collection of her statements, but at a deeper level, it provides a window into the soul of a uniquely American archetype: the affluent, white, female liberal—many of whom now sit atop our elite institutions." https://www.city-journal.org/article/quotations-from-chairman-maher?

The Nashville Shooter

A woman killed 3 children and 3 adults at a Christian school last year and her name isn't even listed in the article I just read about the investigation. Is it because she is white? Anti-Christian? Was she taking hormones dangerous for women? Does her journal implicate an influential institution in charge of her care? Like Vanderbilt's Vivid? Vanderbilt generates about $12 billion annually. Is there abuse recorded in her journal? Is this white privilege or LGBTQ+ privilege?

Nashville Police Say ‘Ongoing Investigation’ Prevents Release Of Covenant Shooter’s Manifesto | The Daily Wire

Lawyers for both Covenant School and Covenant Presbyterian Church, where the school is located, argued against the release of the writings.

New twist: Parents of the murdered children say they own the copyright to the journal.   Tennessee judge wants more information on copyright before ruling on school shooter's writings | AP News

DEI and the AMA

Remember this when you need a kidney transplant.

"Medical schools are introducing into the curriculum material in which everyone can excel. Programming on “structural racism” and the “need for a diversified workforce” is now part of a core content area, according to the academic head of the American Medical Association. A mandatory three-semester course at the University of Pennsylvania medical school, Doctoring I, looks at such topics as “race/racism in medicine,” “narratives,” and “structural competency” (the last means that, if you are white, you are structurally incompetent to give optimal care to underrepresented minorities). The Diversity Strategic Action Plan at the Case Western Reserve medical school trains faculty and students to address implicit bias and microaggressions. The DSAP was developed in response to the changing demographics of the student body, explains the school. None of these courses will help physicians diagnose obscure tumors or prescribe the proper course of drugs.

What and who gets published in scientific journals, who reviews submissions and edits articles—these decisions are now being driven by the felt need for more diverse, that is, more black, faces. An article in the March 14, 2024, edition of Nature by a professor of social policy and race at King’s College, London, complains about how “exhausting” it is to exist at the “intersection” of being black and a woman. A December 2023 article in Science announced that “racism in America is a system of oppression that produces and sustains racially unequal outcomes.” Systemic racism places “Black Americans at a compounded disadvantage even in the absence of overt discrimination,” according to the article."

https://www.city-journal.org/article/kidneys-dont-see-color?

Robert Malone reports on long-term Covid

"There are millions of people world-wide who suffer adverse events from these products or worse, they suffered death. People who were not at a huge risk from the virus or who had already had natural immunity. We were all lied to. Repeatedly.

We deserve a government apology.

We deserve our scientific community and our health care professionals admitting the damages done.

We deserve to have our vaccine injuries taken seriously, and those who have damages deserve some sort of compensation.

People need to be held accountable.

The HHS needs a complete overhaul and we need the next president to be discussing how this will be accomplished."

mRNA Pseudo-Vaccines: Current Research (substack.com)

Who are the rioters?

 

Terrorists and treasonists among us marching in the streets

Right now, in the USA there are illegals, immigrants and US born terrorist supporters blocking federal and state highways flying the flags of our enemies and shouting death to America. There are Democrat members of Congress who support their efforts who also wish death on Israelis and Americans.

The protestors should be allowed to speak if they are Americans, and deported if not, but should be jailed for their behavior that is hurting others. If abortion protestors can't pray in front of PP clinics, then the pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah screamers can't block women on their way to the clinic. The Congress Squad should be charged with insurrection and treason.

Meanwhile an innocent man who is running for president is being held hostage by the Biden lackies and Obama appointees in the worst case of election fraud and corruption by the Democrats since 2020. Democrats ignore the crimes and warfare at our own border so they can thwart the will of the people. Biden jails his political enemies, and Trump lets his enemies use the Constitution in their effort to destroy him.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-israel-agitators-block-golden-gate-bridge-traffic?

Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Block Traffic At Chicago O’Hare Airport And Golden Gate Bridge (msn.com)

Millions of Democrat voters in Democrat run cities are being inconvenienced:

"In Chicago, protesters linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into O'Hare International Airport around 7 a.m. in a demonstration they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers.

Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area was snarled for hours as demonstrators shut down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement across Interstate 880 in Oakland. Protesters marching into Brooklyn blocked Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. In Eugene, Oregon, protesters blocked Interstate 5, shutting down traffic on the major highway for about 45 minutes." Detroit News

Phil is blooming

 Our son Phil had a good friend, Sonja, who was battling breast cancer as he fought glioblastoma. They spent a lot of time talking/texting and she would visit him in his home.  She planted an azaelea tree near her new home when he died, and called it "Phil."  This year Spring is early, and it's throwing out a lot of color. She writes:

“Phil” is coming along…I can’t help but think he may be holding out for Sunday to be in his full glory, which, of course, would bring another round of tears to my eyes, as that will be 4 years since he was called home.

 
Not a single day goes by that I don’t want to share something with him that I saw, heard or experienced, to hear his wisdom, and/or laughter, on whatever it was that I wanted to share…I really miss my dear friend a lot…sigh."

 

April 15--Tax Day and Get Trump Day

Happy Tax Day! 35,000,000 words in the tax code, mostly to attack the middle class and enrich the upper 10%. Biden wants more IRS agents to go after us but won't demand that federal employees pay their back taxes. Imagine if he and son Hunter had to pay taxes on their kickbacks from China and Ukraine!

It's also the day of Alvin Bragg's illegal and despicable attack trial in New York on all voters in the U.S. who want a candidate who can destroy wokeism, progressivism, and socialism with a legal, fair election. Bragg, Willis and James are an embarrassment to the legal profession and all Democrats. They are the personification of the 19th century lynch mobs and Jim Crow Redux. And they only go after Trump. They are the crowd cheering for O.J. killing white victims.

Here's how Democrats will work the election

 

The ants are back, an analogy

Our summer ants are early. Normally I wouldn't see one until late June. I saw one on the kitchen counter yesterday. Tiny. Then 10 and then more. I got out the Terro ant trap and opened it. At first they ignored it. But they seemed to be everywhere. This morning when I turned on the light, the trap had attracted maybe 100 or more, and others were sort of dazed. An hour later, there were only about 25. Then by 10:30 there were almost none. It's like sin. It must be good, everyone's doing it. Let's check it out. So they take a few sips have a party and take it back to the nest (which I can never find) to tell their friends and neighbors and infect them with the poison.

TERRO® Ant Killer & DIY Home Pest Control | Kill Bugs & Insects

Naomi Wolf was cancelled--interview with Tucker

Tucker's interview with Naomi Wolf will knock your socks off. She was one of the most famous liberal intellectuals in America. Then she questioned lockdowns and the covid vax because she'd made a career writing about medical issues and feminism, and knew women were reporting changes in their bodies. Newborns were dying. Facts. She was cancelled big time. Her income, her friends, her "community of liberals," and all her core beliefs. She turned to prayer and the Bible for answers. And she found a new community--and they are looking into Big Pharma's crimes.

A secular Jew and a secular Episcopalian talk about the Bible and what it says about the meaning of tragedy and failure.
 

The Tucker Carlson Podcast: Naomi Wolf on Apple Podcasts

Planned Parenthood solicitation and expansion to new programs

I get mail frequently from Planned Parenthood. Appeals for money, laced with lies. The graphics are right out of the DEI playbook. The unborn are the most righteous, the poorest. and the weakest in our society. We are commanded by God to care for them.

Ps 37:12 "The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at them; but the LORD laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming."

Planned Parenthood is a shill and fund raiser for the Democrat Party. A high rate of its victims is minorities, the poor and the young. Black women are 4x more likely to have an abortion white women--23.8 per 1,000 compared to 6.6 per 1,000. Now it is also in the sex manipulation business for teen--hormones, counseling, etc. That's where the real money is.

After a Knoxville PP clinic closed due to an arsonist in 2022, NPR did a big sympathy piece on how far children confused about their sexuality had to travel for "gender affirming care." Out of 629,898 abortions reported to the CDC for 2019, Black women accounted for 38.4 percent of them. By comparison, white women made up 33.4 percent of those abortions.

Watching the Eclipse--bringing communities together

 Columbus was in a line through Ohio to see the total eclipse on April 8.  We went outside about 2:40 and sat in our lawn chairs in our drive-way and chatted with the neighbors while we watched with our special glasses.  Later I saw on Facebook that my friend Jeanne had equipped her dogs for the event. We noticed about a 10 degree drop in temperature and the birds were acting strangely. 

  

My brother in Byron, Illinois with 90% eclipse, also sat in his drive-way with neighbors with his glasses saved from 2017.

My friend Anna from Cherry Valley, Illinois drove to a small town in Indiana with her son and granddaughter where they enjoyed a full eclipse at a park with lots of festivities.

Ten exercises to improve balance for Seniors

 Putting this here so I can find it. There are not a lot of good spaces in our home to do these, however, some don't take a lot of room. https://youtu.be/cAOK3apyCOc?si=9L4TLOSMLFj8qluA  I often read the comments: 

"Thank you so much i am 84 yrs old .at last exercises i can actually do." 

Sounds like me!

"I am in PT right now to work on my walking. Most of these exercises have been given to me to do. My balance was terrible when I started. Now it's much better. The exercises help if you put in the effort. Keep trying if you start, you will improve."

Doug Weiss, this instructor, has a webpage with a good overview lecture, and highlights of many videos. How to WALK to prevent Falls (youtube.com)  He has some good advice on using a walker in order to increase your miles and balance--uses the example of using a shopping cart at the store. Home | Proprioceptive Rehab

Proprioception: What It Is, Disorder, Symptoms, and More (webmd.com)

California's minimum wage trick by Democrats--virtue signaling

Who are they kidding? $20/hour in California for an unskilled teen-ager, or recently released prisoner?

Minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage. An increase has always hurt the poorest by raising prices and closing them out to the possibility of moving up. It began in the Great Depression and FDR hurt blacks and women the most who at that time could compete for jobs by using their negotiating for wages. This is more smoke and mirrors by Democrats. What employer would take a chance on an 18 year old with no skills but potential? Some kids don't even know how to show up on time--it's part of learning/teaching your minimum wage staff. Very few employed people earn minimum--it was already too high. Employers forced to pay $10-$15 will look for people worth it. California has hurt the poor and particularly American born minorities (immigrants often have a better work ethic if they walked 1,000 miles to get here).

Only about 1.4% of wage earners make federal minimum, compared to 13.4% in 1979. And that's not good. Those are earning/learning jobs--part time, good for teens and the mentally challenged that require good mentoring to move to the next level. Those jobs are now done by machines who won't take smoke breaks, call in sick, or want off for a relative's funeral. The good paying, living wage jobs are the kids who went to trade school, or high school grads who can be carpenter or plumber helpers.

Some are saying then an increase is needed for Social Securty. For that we have COLA. Like Minimum wage, Social Security was never meant to be a living wage. Rate of return in 2022 was about 6%--and considering a dicey economy struggling with socialist Bidenomics, that's not bad. It was about 1.2% in the late 90s. Possibly private investing could do better, but SS has a number of other programs to help workers that pensions and 401-k's don't. Unfortunately, we are now down to about 2.9 workers for every retiree. In 1940, that was 42. Someone in FDR's cabinet couldn't do the math. But that's Democrats. Promises, promises.

Batya Ungar-Sargon talked to the people

Yesterday I listened to an interview of Batya Ungar-Sargon who went out into America and actually talked to working people about what they believe about immigration, abortion, the economy, education, etc. What a concept! She's published a book "Second class: How the elites betrayed America's working men and women." I'd be surprised if one would vote for Biden because Democrats haven't been the party of the working class for decades. Their pollsters also lie to you every night on the news about the working class beliefs. If they don't answer the questions as the elites want, then the check mark is racist/ homophobic/ xenophobic etc. And Americans DO want those jobs that the elites wouldn't do. Dem economists are such snobs and have a low opinion of the people who allow them to live well that they skew the results of polls. Batya works for Newsweek.

Honestly with Bari Weiss: How the Working Class Became America’s Second Class on Apple Podcasts

"Bari Weiss: My guest today, Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon, has been on a journey for the past eight years to understand how Trump won the White House in 2016 and how the left fundamentally misunderstood the American working class. She eventually came to the conclusion that the most salient feature of American life is not our political divide. It’s “the class divide that separates the college-educated from the working class.”

Democrats have historically been the party of the working class. But for the better part of the past decade, Democrats have seen their support among working-class voters tumble. Policy wonks and demographic experts kept saying just wait: the future of the Democratic party is a multiethnic, multiracial, working-class coalition. But that didn’t pan out.

Instead, in 2016, Trump carried 54 percent of voters with family incomes of $30,000 to $50,000; 44 percent of voters with family incomes under $50,000; and nearly 40 percent of union workers voted for Trump—the highest for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Meanwhile, in 2022, Democrats had a 15-point deficit among working-class voters but a 14-point advantage among college-educated voters.

In order to understand how and why this happened, Batya decided to spend the last year traveling the country talking to working-class Americans. Who are they? Do they still have a fair shot at the American dream? What do they think about their chances to secure the hallmarks of a middle-class life?

She collected these stories in her new book: Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women. What she found is that for many of them, the American dream felt dead.

Today, Batya discusses who really represents the working class; why she thinks America has broken its contract with the working class; how we reinstate our commitment to them; and what will happen in 2024 if we don’t.

Biden still going after the middle class

"The most recent data suggests the IRS is still focused on the middle class. As of last summer, 63% of new audits targeted taxpayers with income of less than $200,000. Only a small overall share reached the very highest earners, while 80% of audits covered filers earning less than $1 million. Don’t forget to save those charitable-giving receipts." Wall Street Journal,  April 3, 2024.

I wonder why the IRS doesn't go after the federal government employees who are behind on their taxes. 10 years ago the figure was over 300,000, but nothing has been done.

The Number of Tax Delinquent Feds Is Growing. The IRS Watchdog Wants a Crackdown. - Government Executive (govexec.com)

Spring rains in April 2024

We've certainly had our spring rains. We have a small, sleepy creek north (our view), south and east of our condo grounds . Although I've seen it higher, not often. What's usually quiet is called "Turkey Run" and it meanders through the OSU Golf course and empties into the Olentangy River. The view from our deck. First view.

Second View link.  This is the topographic map and we're sitting on that little red line between Kenny and Olentangy. We get a lot of deer here and the birds love it. Long time residents of UA may remember the bad flood we had around 1973. Then we were 2 houses from "Evans Ditch" on Abington Rd. which was really for drainage, but people called it a creek. Everyone but us had flooded basements--we were slab on grade. Our neighbor had a large wine collection in his basement.  All the labels came off and floated away. I think all the creek beds and walls in UA were upgraded then. It ran to the Scioto Golf Course on Rt. 33. Phil and his little friends loved playing in it and scaring me to death. 

  

Turkey Run Topo Map in Franklin County, Ohio (anyplaceamerica.com)

The slippery word equity

I asked Co-pilot (AI) how many government memos since 2021 have the word equity in them. It burped, but gave me just a few notables from 2023-24. They are all word salad, and will cause a lot of mischief, since there is no definition--it's a "concept" and very fluid. Equity is not equality, that much we know. 

AI doesn't like to work hard. I looked at one of the 2024 for AI and found 10 uses of the word.

"Since 2121, several government memoranda have addressed the concept of equity. Here are a few notable ones:

M-24-08: This memorandum focuses on strengthening digital accessibility and the management of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act1.
M-24-05: It emphasizes catalyzing sustainable transportation through federal travel1.
M-24-03: Provides guidance on advancing climate resilience through climate-smart infrastructure investments and implementation guidance for the Disaster Resiliency Planning Act1.
M-24-XX: Proposes advancing governance, innovation, and risk management for agency use of artificial intelligence1.
M-24-XX: A draft policy aims to modernize the Federal Risk Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)1.
M-23-22: Focuses on delivering a digital-first public experience1.
M-23-18: Addresses administration cybersecurity priorities for the FY 2025 Budget1.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but it highlights some relevant memoranda. For further details, you can explore the White House Memoranda page1. Additionally, the concept of equity has been central to various executive orders and initiatives, including the Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across the federal government2."

I took the suggestion and added in EOs and initiatives to my query, and it cut it to three!

Joe Biden wants the rich to pay their "fair share"

 

  

Joe may be the biggest criminal to ever live in the White House, but he owns a bevy of tax accountants who will tell you the rich don't pay enough. He'll never have to pay taxes on the money Hunter gave him which came from China and Ukraine back when he was Vice President.  Read today's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Already Soaks the Rich - WSJ

"Taxing the rich is popular these days, in part because Republicans are now playing the same tax redistribution game as Democrats. The problem in Washington isn’t that the rich refuse to pay their “fair share,” whatever that means. The trouble is that with the notable exception for national defense, Mr. Biden’s progressive spending ambitions are limitless. Washington could confiscate the income of every billionaire in the country and still not finance what Democrats want to spend."

I've lost a close friend of 50 years, Nancy Long

Since January I've been keeping a close watch on my good friend Nancy Long, who has been in and out of the hospital several times.  Fortunately, I'd been able to visit her and talk to her on the phone during her last illness.  We met in 1974 in a Bible study at FCC, found out we both enjoyed going out for coffee for a chat, and later that year she introduced us to Lakeside.  I also knew her parents, daughters, husband, and had met most of the grandchildren. She was well read and always knew the latest trends in fashion, real estate, politics and investments, plus what was going on in our school system and city government. She was a Republican long before I was, but we rarely disagreed. We celebrated our birthdays together probably all but last year, our 50th anniversaries, attended the funerals of mutual friends, many Lakeside events, church services, and dinners.  This is her obituary.

 

Panera's for coffee--2005

Exercise class--Blues Brothers--1986

 

Our 50th anniversary 2010

Nancy Lou Mitchell Long passed away Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

She was the beloved wife of Professor Ronald K. Long for 64 years. She and Ronald were residents of First Community Village for nearly three years.

Nancy was born June 18, 1933, in Bellevue, to Bertram and Helen Moreland Mitchell, who preceded her in death. Nancy fought a courageous almost lifelong battle with lung disease (bronchiectasis) which left her with a chronic productive cough and ultimately led to her passing.

After graduating from Bellevue High School, Nancy attended Denison University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree (1955). She joined Chi Omega Sorority and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and National Mortar Board Honorary her junior year. She earned her Master of Science in Counseling from Stanford University (1957). Nancy spent many of her years as an educator, teaching at Columbus State Community College, Ohio State University, Euclid Senior High School, and Harding Junior High School in Lakewood.

Nancy was a member of First Community Church since 1960 and served as chair of numerous councils and committees including First Community Foundation, FCC Governing Board, Board of Deacons, Couple's Circle 29, Women's Guild Board, and Guilds X and G. She also enjoyed OSU Women's Club, Wednesday Literary Club (20 years), Mortar Board Alumnae, American Association of University Women, and Women's Association of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, her interests included playing piano duets with friends, reading current books, and giving book reviews. She developed and directed a merchandising program for Mortar Board National Office.

Since 1947, Nancy and her family spent summers at the family cottage at Lakeside on Lake Erie where she enjoyed walking along the lakefront path and hosting her grandchildren each summer. She was active in Lakeside Women's Club, The Heritage Society, and Friends of the Hotel Lakeside.

Nancy is survived by her daughters, Marilyn (Patrick) Roddy of Knoxville, Tennessee, and Susan (Davin) McAndrews of San Francisco, California; grandchildren she cherished, Katherine (Noah) Lavine, McKenzie (Chase) Hall, and Margaret Roddy, and Davin (Mac), Mitchell, and Porter McAndrews; and great-grandsons, Henry and Simon Lavine.

As an only child, Nancy always considered herself fortunate to have shared her childhood with cousins James Dean Miller (Carole, deceased), Jane Louise Miller Davisson (deceased) (David, deceased), Sandra Miller Woolley (Frank, deceased), and Michael Miller (Lu Ann).

Memorial gifts may be sent to First Community Foundation - Guild X fund, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus, Ohio, 43212. Nancy's celebration of life will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13, 2024, at First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., Columbus, Ohio, 43212. A reception for family and friends will be at the church following the service.

Arrangements have been entrusted to SCHOEDINGER NORTHWEST.

How much they hate Trump--Letitia James

 "In 2014,  [Jon] Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot Tribeca duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. The property’s asking price at that time is not available in listing records. But according to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by The Post, the property had the estimated market-value at only $1.882 million. The actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.

Records also show that Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on that assessor valuation price — precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his Monday monologue." https://nypost.com/2024/03/27/real-estate/jon-stewart-found-to-have-overvalued-his-nyc-home-by-829/

Everyone who has bought or sold property in New York should be shaking in their boots, or do you think Trump is the only white man Letitia hates?

And now we have a collapsed bridge at an important port

 

Harris puts her stamp of approval on abortion clinics

Donald Trump was the first president to offer full support for the unborn and the pro-life movement in January 2020. Kamala Harris was the first vice president to visit a death camp, aka, abortion clinic, in March 2024. To be a Democrat, you have to support abortion.

"All of us here today understand an eternal truth, every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world. From my family, and I can tell you I send love and I send great, great love. And from the first day in office, I’ve taken historic action to support America’s families and to protect the unborn." Donald Trump

Donald Trump Speech Transcript: Trump Speaks at March for Life Event | Rev Blog