For a more civil society call them racists

I suspect the pleas that we return to a more civil society without so much polarization with more bi-partisanship is mainly suggested by Democrats. They really take offense at being questioned about their party's abortion platform, their patriotism, about their feeble president, their weaponization of the DOJ and their funding by dark money. They desire our silence and polite understanding. They are also virtue signalers--especially those who say they are Christians. For example. If you want to promote peace, harmony and reasonable dialog in a vacation community--let's say Lakeside, Ohio--where people come to see old friends, to fish or boat, and to take in some stimulating Chautauqua programs--why invite (and pay) a speaker who has written books "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy," "White Too Long, The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity," and "The End of White Christian America?"

Steve Bannon goes to prison; Eric Holder didn't

Steve Bannon is going to jail July 1 for contempt of Congress, but Eric Holder (same charge) didn't. What's the difference? Bannon was on Trump's staff at one time. It's a misdemeanor. Who goes to jail for a misdemeanor? Only Republicans, pro-lifers, and conservative Catholics. They are going after Guliani for the same reason. Trump got the Soviet 1930s style trial and death in prison; his aides and lawyers, jail time and personal ruin. A Michigan grandmother got a 2 year sentence for a pro-life protest. Democrats don't just play hard ball, they want to destroy the judicial system.

 “In my 20s I served my country on a Navy Destroyer [and] in my 70s I’ll serve my country in a federal prison. It doesn’t make any difference,” Bannon said. https://youtu.be/YGRMp-GkIwo?si=vy9mGbTLSyBF_omv

"Unless you were equally appalled by Obama Attorney General Eric Holder's refusal to turn over Department of Justice documents about botched gun-walking Operation Fast and Furious in 2012, I don't want to hear it. The gun-walking operation was a mess that got Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry killed. He was murdered by one of the guns in this scandal" (Townhall.com)

BLM and Antifa got to burn down buildings, paint logos in the streets, and disrupt our cities and economy for months and months. No problem. And the media called it racism when they got arrested.

June 13, 1777

On June 13, 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in South Carolina. He declared that "the welfare of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind." So true. There are those among us who want to end that. They are angry that this is a great country, and they riot in the streets, burn down buildings and mock us from our elite universities. They say things like "first the Saturday people, then the Sunday people." They hate all of Western Civilization.

30 days to think about pride

Pride is considered one of the seven deadly sins because

It glorifies oneself and not God
It is selfish
It rages against all wise counsel
It is not submissive to authority
It is judgmental
It leads to discrimination

For sure!

"In the Bible, the first sin committed by human beings, often referred to as the original sin, was rooted in pride. Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden came from their desire to be like God, to have the knowledge of good and evil, and to assert their independence from Him."

So, it may be good to have 30 days devoted to remembering the failures and unhappiness caused by pride. Especially that part about wanting to be like God.

The hoax of the Hunter Biden trial

Have you seen the Demedia rejoicing that the justice system works (Hunter's gun trial and conviction). What a crock. That man, with his father, committed so many crimes this was a throw away. https://ijr.com/hunter-biden-may-never-have-been-on-trial-were-it-not-for-whistleblowers-and-no-nonsense-judge/ Co-pilot (which I never ask for, but which always butts in) wrote, "I'm sorry, I'm unable to continue this conversation" when I asked for the truth about his crimes and the media coverage. Ha. Ha.

A Netflix movie may soon tell the Garfield story

Coming soon on Netflix. The story of President James Garfield. But we had the story today in Lakeside from Todd Arrington, of the National Park Service and Site Manager of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio. I have visited most Presidential sites in Ohio, 2 in Illinois and one in California, I've been to Gettysburg and other historic state and national sites. I've been blogging for 21 years about some of the issues that Garfield focused on--slavery, race, education, nation building, etc.--yet I could count on one hand the number of times he's appeared on my radar of important events. Arrington, who has a PhD in history, did a masterful job of portraying a great man assassinated by a mentally ill person who was disappointed he did not get the job he wanted after he'd voted for Garfield. Well worth the price of admission (there's a gate pass for Lakeside). CLS: Celebrate Ohio: Presidential Museums - Lakeside Ohio

"Had he not been assassinated early in his presidential term in 1881, the history of the late 19th century might read very differently today. If the history of the late 19th century read differently, perhaps the histories of the 20th and early 21st centuries might, too."

Netflix Announces New Drama Series 'Death by Lightning' Starring Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen - About Netflix

There actually is a conspiracy

 Copied, but I agree.

"I hate conspiracy theories, but we all need to look at what is transpiring, and the conspiracy is there for all to see. Put aside all the illegal aspects of how the Trump trial was conducted, and focus instead on the overall bigger picture, and what is really happening. There is a grand scheme to consolidate power in the White House with someone organizing what is, in fact, a non-violent attempt at assumption and retention of power.

First, they attacked a lot of the tea party groups by illegally using the IRS when Obama first came to office.

They get Trump impeached with the phony dossier. They almost succeeded with the ignorant help of the left-wing press.

When that did not work, they tried the impeachment route again on new false claims about a phone call.
In 2020, Sanders almost got the primary victory. They needed an easily manipulated Biden to win, and to be the puppet Obama could control by getting many of his senior staff into the top positions in the White House. Clyburn was tasked to manage rounding up the black votes and get Biden a win. They supposedly made some deal with Sanders to implement some of his far-left agenda, which they have done.

 
I believe Biden really won the 2020 election even though there were cases of voter fraud, ballot harvesting, no voter ID, same day registration, and mail in ballots.

 
With Biden in the White House, Obama was able to plant Susan Rice, Blinken, Sullivan and others in key jobs, and control policy. It is not clear if Biden even realized what was happening, or he was able to be convinced to have them as his advisors since he had worked closely with them for several years. Now Rice has disappeared for some reason. Don’t you find it odd that she was this very powerful and very high-profile public person, and now she has just disappeared from sight.

Keep in mind congress has paid out millions to cover up affairs and misdeeds by Congressmen. If they prosecuted every CEO who had an affair with an employee, and then paid to keep it quiet, we would have a lot of CEOs in jail. We still do not know exactly what crime he is guilty of as the jury never made that clear.

 
Now it is 2024, and Trump is in the lead, and Biden Harris is a very weak slate. The Bragg case, according to every objective experienced lawyer who has opined, including Dershowitz, has said the entire case is completely not only without any merit, and was run by a judge who made numerous major errors, but is clearly a set up with the judge being selected outside of normal court routine. The jury instructions were essentially a directed verdict.

 
In another case, the Dems rolled out the woman who accused Trump of sexual assault 20 years ago, well beyond the statute of limitations, and they had the NY State legislature change the statute to allow that case to go forward.

 
The real estate fraud case is total crap. Nobody was damaged at all. Every bank was fully repaid on time. Under banking regs, banks are responsible these days to get their own independent appraisals, and to do their own valuations. That case is as concocted and staged as the Bragg case. It was designed to bankrupt Trump.

 And then there is the documents case, which it seems has real flaws with an illegally appointed special prosecutor,

and the GA case with the prosecutor who has real issues of conflict.

All four of the prosecutors went to the White House and met with the lawyers there before filing charges,

and then Bragg gets the number 3 official in DOJ to leave his high-level job and become a low-level local prosecutor for this case. Nobody does that.

Recall the 51 intel officials who signed a letter saying the laptop was Russian disinformation, and now that laptop is the proof they will use to convict Hunter.

There are also the continuing efforts to get Thomas off the court, and now Alito, and to expand the court with Biden appointments. SCOTUS is all that stands between them and saving our nation. If Trump loses, we will lose the Supreme Court and our liberties.

Lastly, they have open borders so they can have millions of illegals vote by mail to be ballot harvested with no voter ID. A few dollars to the illegals and they will sign a ballot. That is exactly how LBJ won his TX governor election. It is also how Daley did it in Chicago, and how JFK became the unelected president. Obama learned from Daley. This is going to be Chicago and LBJ revisited.

 Taken altogether, this is the latest effort by the Dems to get rid of Trump, and to get total control. Piece all of this together for yourself, and you have a many years’ conspiracy, and an attempt to get full control of the government by Obama and Clinton, but mainly Obama. This is the real threat to democracy.

A series of events of this nature and magnitude does not happen without someone planning and directing it-Obama. It is all funded by Arabella. If you are old enough you recall Beria, the secret police chief under Stalin. “Show me the man and I will show you the crime.” You just witnessed this." Joel Ross

Working from home 1962 style--Meditsinsky Rabotnik

Dennis Prager: "Soviet-style “science” is on the rise. The American Medical Association now recommends that “male” and “female” designations no longer be listed on birth certificates. Children’s hospitals are using hormone blockers and performing sex-change operations on perfectly healthy teenagers."

In 1962 I worked from home on a graduate assistantship translating the Russian-language newspaper Meditsinsky rabotnik (Medical Worker). Typical Communist drivel and most readers were poorly paid women, because medicine, law, and engineering were all low ranking in prestige. Communism never delivers on its promises of equality. But even if they'd been well paid, I doubt that a Soviet citizen could have come up with the ghoulish crimes invented by our highly paid, prestigious medical profession. Maiming children in the U.S. is very well paid. The Russians loved their children.

Meditsinsky Rabotnik has a Facebook page, but hasn't posted anything for 12 years.

What the world was before January 2021

The world was not close to WWIII, Jews were not being attacked in the U.S., gas was affordable, groceries were affordable, mortgage interest rates were 2.5%, and the economic outlook was outstanding. A thought that is circulating as people consider the election.

Christian missionaries killed in Haiti

"PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.S. missionary couple and a Haitian man who worked with them were shot and killed by gang members in Haiti’s capital after they were attacked while leaving a youth group activity held at a local church, a family member said Friday.

The attack happened Thursday evening in the community of Lizon in northern Port-au-Prince, Lionel Lazarre, head of a Haitian police union, told The Associated Press."

https://apnews.com/article/haiti-us-couple-missionaries-killed-gangs-a65a4515e0d8610d9acd006d24821efd?

By Rik Swartzwelder on Facebook

"Next time you’re feeling superior to Gen Z or Gen Alpha or… whatever other generational label struts down the catwalk next… remember the names of these two…

Davy (23) and Natalie (21) Lloyd. A young married couple from Missouri, USA, who were Christian missionaries who had committed their lives to serving the youngest and poorest in Haiti.

Along with Pastor Jude Montis (45), the local Haitian native who was the Director of Missions for their ministry organization, they were just days ago savagely butchered by a ruthless gang in Port-au-Prince.
Their names will likely barely be remembered…

None of them ever pranced half-naked on a stage, singing songs and begging for your adulation… for a hefty price…

They never made a billion dollars…

Or won an Olympic gold medal or any kind of athletic championship…

Or grabbed a microphone or exhausted themselves in the mockery or belittlement of others…

Or spent hours trolling others online trying to prove their superiority…

They never sought the spotlight… or lived for their own pleasure alone... or bought into the lie that this world is all there is...

What they did do was lay down their lives in the hopes of bringing a better life to others…

These are heroes. These are the souls that humble me and inspire me and call me into wanting to be more than I am. To serve… to give… to love…

Lord, have mercy… hear our prayer… come soon…

Javier Milei talks with Bari Weiss

At one time Buenos Aires was known as "the Paris of South America." That was 100 years ago. What happened? Socialism. Argentina is a mess of government bureaucracy and control. And now, it has elected the equivalent of a Maga man, South American style. Kick out or reduce the poverty pimps who have abandoned freedom for collectivism. I really don't know anything about Javier Milei, the "skunk at the garden party," but I heard an interview on "Honestly" by Bari Weiss, The Free Press.

Milei and Trump would not agree on many things, but they do agree on the dangers of socialism. Be bold. Be the skunk at the garden party thrown by the Democrats and Totalitarians.

 
In the 21st century we are being hit from all sides by Marxists and political Islam. Stop pretending, you loyal Democrats and weak Republicans, that nothing is wrong. When Obama and Biden promise us that they can totally transform the country, they aren't kidding. It's a promise they intend to keep. We are in crisis. We are fighting psychological warfare (men can be women, abortion is women's rights, more government is good government, the USA is weak and feckless, the swamp is pure, you need another jab to be a good American) and Lawfare (destruction of our values using our own courts and overwhelming illegal immigration). What we saw in NYC last week, what we've been seeing on our elite campuses since last fall, plus all the climate change hoaxes and all the DEI nonsense for 2 decades are all part of the subversion and planned chaos to shake us to the core. They are well funded and patient.

Be a skunk at their garden party.

Latest Episodes | Honestly Podcast

Trump is a threat to the ruling class

"Trump is the greatest threat to this ruling class since Richard Nixon. He has therefore aroused more raw political passion than anyone in recent memory. Making him a convicted felon is a calculated gamble to keep him from returning to the White House. There is a risk it could backfire. But the ruling class knows that Trump is entirely alone in the political establishment. He has the support of millions of voters—almost certainly a plurality of the American people. But he is opposed by virtually all of the influential social, economic, political, and cultural interest groups that determine the outcome of elections.

 
When most elected Republicans and conservatives accepted the legitimacy of the globalist interpretation of the 2020 election, they abandoned the rule of law for hundreds of American citizens. These citizens were called insurrectionists and were denied basic rights by a Congress and courts that funded and conducted what was clearly an elaborately staged hoax."

Convicted by the 'Rational State' (tomklingenstein.com)

I'm not familiar with this author, but it's almost word for word that I've been thinking since 2020. Trump made some huge mistakes with Covid probably because he, like the rest of us, didn't think about how deep the swamp went--into science and medicine and public health. He saw the opportunity to be a hero and make all those haters like him. Ha. First they said he's done all the wrong things (by following the advice of the swamp creatures) but they had a plan. By manipulating us, they could steal the election. Then Biden and Boys doubled down an caused more deaths than there ever were in 2020. Biden will never be able to bring us to 2019 in health, wealth, happiness, respect from world leaders, labor participation, true progress for minorities and respect for women. And nothing could have made me see Trump as a world class orator and brilliant thinker, however, Biden has done that one accomplishment.

Speaking memories at lunch

Lunch today was nothing incredible--rotisserie chicken, alfredo sauce, with macaroni, asparagus, fresh spinach, toasted French loaf with garlic butter, fresh pineapple with blueberries, and a homemade chocolate cookie (for him, I was full). No photo was taken. But we had a lively conversation. I try to tell stories he hasn't heard before (and that I haven't heard either). 

He gets sort of mixed up on the dates. I do remember those. We met in March 1959 and married in September 1960, so it's been 65 years since our first date. We both remembered what we wore because we went to the St. Pat's Ball. He wore his grandfather's sport coat and I wore a friend's lace red dress. 

 I think what started the conversation at lunch today was a photo I had of him in 1975 when he was super skinny. He had propped his painting up against our Ford Pinto in the drive way so I could take a photo.  And he then looked like the guy I met in 1959. In those days some of us didn't know each other very well. I went to summer school in Maine that summer, and he worked in Indianapolis the fall of 1959 while I was at U. of Illinois, so actually, we were practically strangers. We had both been engaged before, and to my knowledge they are also both alive.

I can't seem to find the photo I showed him today in his skinny days, but I remember I bought him this suit in the boys' department at Lazarus. 1974. And that helmet hair I was wearing was all the rage.

Michelle Malkin, what happened to her

 I enjoyed her writing and her feistiness. I wondered what happened to her. Today I came across her last column--published October 25, 2022. This is just part of it. I suspect something similar has happened to Candace Owens, who has disappeared after her dust up with Ben Shapiro. '-30-': An Ending, but Not the End, by Michelle Malkin - The Unz Review

"Because of my peacefully expressed reporting, opinions and speeches, my family has been punished and stigmatized, my reputation tarnished and my voice squelched. It’s not “big government” that waged this war on my career. It’s a constellation of vindictive wrongthink police in the private sector, from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, to foreign newspapers and moneyed interests that have no business influencing American politics, to “conservative” swamp creatures and profiteers such as Bill Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, Mona Charen and Ben Shapiro, and even to former colleagues at the Fox News Channel, which blacklisted me several years ago and told a friend of mine who was a guest on Tucker Carlson’s show not to say my name after antifa rioters had attacked me and others on stage at a Back the Blue rally in Denver a few years ago. (My friend ignored the warning. God bless him.)

I have no regrets. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” I remain thankful to every single reader over the last three decades, and I will be eternally inspired by all the patriots I’ve profiled over the years — especially the ordinary parents, whistleblowers, citizen journalists and activists who have sacrificed far more than I for their truth-seeking and truth-telling."

P.S. Normally, I wouldn't use Unz Review for anything.  As "alternative" press it's also allowing vicious, hateful anti-Semitism, but I think it's the only place I saw her column.

 

I was on a jury once

I've only been on one jury. At first I felt very patriotic and important. Only 45% of Americans ever serve on a jury and if you are called, sometimes the case is settled before you hear it. The case for which I was seated involved Ohio's infamous Scott-Pontzer insurance law which was finally reversed in 2003. It was incredibly confusing and caused me to lose chunks of faith in our laws and our jury system. It was referred to as the Golden Turkey award and had allowed employees and their families injured on their own time in their own cars to collect from their employers’ auto insurance policies.

https://www.porterwright.com/content/uploads/2017/11/216_litdec2003.pdf?

Do the media mavens believe what they say?

Last night I heard a few snippets on Fox of the MSM like Joy Reid (an evil person) and others I can't identify by face, and then the View shrews. Why they matter, I don't know.  The alternative sources of information easily outnumber their audiences.  Joe Rogan. Tucker Carlson. Megyn Kelly. Millions and millions don't trust CNN or MSNBC or the alphabet media. But I am influenced enough by their Trump-hate to hit the mute button on the remote. They don't even question how Bragg could get 94 felonies out of a misdemeanor or how the so-called "second crime" wasn't revealed until the jury instructions (on p, 32). Or how a state can try a federal crime (by Dem definition). These are the same people who thought Kyle Rittenhouse had crossed a state line to kill black people. (Everyone in that case was white, and his father lived in Wisconsin. And they lie constantly about January 6.)  They can't figure out how the media assists in destroying our country. They can't see election interference that the Number Three guy in the Biden's Department of Justice took a demotion to a state court so he can control the case. He's also the guy who prosecuted Trump on the non-victim trial for loans all parties had agreed.

This trial will go down in infamy--Judge Juan Merchan

There was little doubt President DonaldTrump would be convicted, and for no other reason than looking at the behavior and politics of JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN. He was a partisan hack. Merchan has gag ordered Trump, but not me.

 
I've always believed this conviction would be overturned on appeal since it was so obvious even with my limited "Law and Order" TV knowledge. Now I'm not so sure. If the Democrats are this evil, they might just win at the next level, and then pack SCOTUS.

• What are the chances that Merchan would be assigned to two Trump trials if selection is random? One in a million? 500,000,000? He was handpicked.
• Merchan had donated to Biden's campaign, and his daughter is a Democrat party fund raiser benefitting from this trial.
• Merchan demanded gag orders which were illegal and unconstitutional, and fined Trump. No one understands the gag order.
• Merchan allowed irrelevant and salacious testimony that had no relevance to the trial and were intended to embarrass Trump and sway the TV audience.
• Merchan on the other hand disallowed testimony that would have helped the jurors understand federal election law and campaign finance law, a very complicated specialty that even the other lawyers involved don't know.
• Merchan cleared out the court room when Michael Cohen's former attorney was exonerating Trump but allowed the prosecution to bring in Stormy Daniels to talk about whether or not Trump used a condom.
• Merchan reprimanded key defense witness Robert Costello about "proper decorum" although he allowed Daniels to give great detail. Then when Costello wasn't impressed and glared at him, Merchan cleared the court room.
• Merchan gave the jury 54 pages of instructions on how to decide. I've been on a jury (once) and can't imagine trying to wade through that. I saw no information on what the crime was Trump was supposed to have committed with the NDA.  People v. DJT Jury Instructions and Charges FINAL 5-23-24.pdf (nycourts.gov) .
• Merchan had the jury out for many days before final deliberation. No seclusion. Very irregular.
• Merchan set sentencing for July 11. Republican convention is July 15. It's still election interference.

Seat belts--early memory

"Click it or ticket. Buckle up." That is the banner at the intersection of Tremont and Kenny Rds. Golf course on the west. Lutheran church, apartments and city building on the east. And a memory flashes of the first time I wore a seat belt in a car. Does that ever happen to you? Useless memories pop up out of nowhere, but I can't remember how to use the TV remote. I don't have any grandchildren to bore with my stories (however, I loved my grandparents' stories).

I was the receptionist/secretary/labor at Foxbilt Feeds in Mt. Morris, IL. I've forgotten the name of the owner, but he had a fantastic red Ford convertible, probably 1955. I answered the phone and copied down orders for delivery. The car had seat belts, not sure if they were required then or were an add on option. But I must have gone on some deliveries to farmers, otherwise I wouldn't have been in the car. It was a part time, summer job, and my mom took me to work since I was too young to drive. I looked online and Foxbilt does seem to still supply feed and fertilizer.

Google search algorithm

"Google’s search algorithm is perhaps the most consequential system on the internet, dictating what sites live and die and what content on the web looks like." Sure is. When I go back and reread some of my blog entries whether it's about Memorial Day, a recipe, family memories, or how bad Obama was, I can see counts of 150-200 per entry. Now, it's about 17-20. Part of it was change in social media choices, but also it's the algorithm. Commercial sites now get top space. And of course, during the pandemic and lockdown, it was simply censored.

Google won’t comment on a potentially massive leak of its search algorithm documentation - The Verge

Menopause

I wonder how this sentence got past the DEI police. "Approximately 55 million people in the US and approximately 1.1 billion people worldwide are postmenopausal women." Men who declare they are women don't experience menopause, and women who declare they are men do if they have retained their organs.   JAMA. 2024;331(20):1748-1760.

Memorial Day 2024, Monday May 27

The last Monday in May is dedicated to remembering military members who died in service. I've done a number of blogs over the years about my uncle Clare who was killed in WWII in the China Burma India Theater in October 1944. There are only a few nieces and a nephew who remember him, and we are all in our 80s. He came home in October 1947 on the Honda Knot, and from there came by train to Franklin Grove, Illinois where he was buried in the Ashton Cemetery.

What does the Bible say about soldiers? An old blog entry for Memorial Day Week-end

I came across an item about soldiers and wars in my blog entry of June 1, 2008.  I didn't follow through on my question about how have soldiers influenced the spread of the Gospel.  But it's still worth looking at.

"This week our congregation has been reading the book of Acts, and I noticed a number of references to soldiers and centurions. I'm not much of a Bible scholar, but I did wonder about what studies have been done on their influence in spreading the Gospel during the first century of the church. Then yesterday, while looking for a different book (and knocking some items on the floor because I sometimes stack books behind books if they don't have attractive covers), I found an International Sunday School Lesson book from 1944 which I think I bought at a yard sale for a quarter about 10 years ago. If you can find them, these books are packed with study outlines, bibliographies, lesson plans, illustrations and color maps. No wimp-out, touchy-feely, "let's get acquainted" questions in this book!

In the introduction the editor writes:"Inasmuch as we are in the midst of the world's most gigantic military conflict, and the minds of people are so much upon war, some of our readers might be interested in taking up a series of studies in young people's meetings, or in prayer meetings, or in private classes in homes, apart from the International Sunday School Lessons, in Biblical themes that have more or less relation to the subject of war. We here suggest two such series, one a study of the centurions and soldiers of the New Testament [the other was OT battles]. They will be found in eighteen different groups, nine in the Gospels, and nine in the Book of Acts. A fascinating book could be written just about the soldiers of the New Testament.

1. The centurion whose servant Jesus healed of the palsy (Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10)
2. The soldiers of the governor who mocked and smote Jesus--between his trial and crucifixion (Mat. 27:27-32; Mark 15:16-23; John 19:2)
3. The soldiers who mocked Jesus at the cross (Luke 23:36,37)
4. The soldiers who parted Christ's raiment at the foot of the cross (John 19:23,24)
5. The soldiers who broke the legs of the 2 criminals crucified on either side of Christ (John 19:32)
6. The soldier who thrust a spear into the side of Christ (John 19:34)
7. The centurion at the cross who confessed that Jesus was the Son of God (Matt.27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47)
8. The centurion who reported to Pilate that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:44,45)
9. The soldiers who were set to guard the tomb wherein the body of Jesus lay (Matt. 27:65, 66; 28:11-15)
10. Cornelius, centurion of the Italian band, to whom Peter preached (Acts 10)
11. The "devout soldier" who was sent by Cornelius to bring Peter (Acts 10:7,8)
12. The 4 quarternions of soldiers to whom Peter was delivered for safekeeping, and between two of whom Peter was sleeping (Acts 12:4-18)
13. The soldiers and centurions whom the chief captain used to deliver Paul from the mob in Jerusalem (Acts 21:32-35)
14. The centurion to whom Paul declared he was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25,26)
15. The centurion to whom Paul asked permission to see his sister's son (Acts 23:17)
16. The soldiers who accompanied Paul to Caesarea (Acts 23:23-35)
17. Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band, to whom Paul was committed when he was sent to Rome (Acts 27:1,6,11,31,43; 28:16)
18. The soldiers who were on the ship on which Paul was carried to Rome (Acts 27:31, 32, 42)"

Only the introduction of the 1944 book mentions the war that was on everyone's mind, an introduction which included five annotated bibliographies containing about 80 titles, many multi-volume, for the teacher to consult! Many people never read an introduction, preface or footnote (librarians love the secondary and tertiary stuff), so I suspect this was a concession to some heated arguments in the back room when deciding what was to go into this book.

The editors appeared to have no doubts about who would be the victor, although I don't think my mother, aunts and grandmothers, with ear to the radio and eye on the headlines, waiting for the mailman (my own father plus numerous uncles and cousins were in the service) were quite so confident.

They wrote:  "When the war is over, evangelical Christianity will enter upon the greatest struggle it has known since the days of Constantine in the defense of its great cardinal truths. All of this great and important and sober work will not be done by ministers or theological professors, but much of it by the thousands and thousands of faithful Sunday school teachers throughout our land. Let us prayerfully, carefully, with all the mind and heart we have, prepare ourselves now for this great struggle in the expectation of glorious victory in the ultimate triumph of the truth of God."

Certainly a word for the 21st century. And even they couldn't have imagined it would be our home-grown, gold plated idols (celebrities), our wealth (mind numbing consumerism), our gendered temples (desecration of God's plan for man and woman), our university faculties and our own elected leaders we'd need to fear. Or did they?" (End of June 1, 2008 blog entry.)

Have a thoughtful Memorial Day observance

Testimony wrapped up this week, and closing arguments are scheduled following the holiday.

Judge Juan Merchan, the worst in our history, sent the jury home to stew in the hate and threats in NYC they'll receive for several days if any one of them dares to follow the evidence and the "charge" (which we still don't know) and find Trump innocent of the non-crime. If the Democrats can destroy due process against a former president, they can do it to YOU.

Makes the sacrifices of all the wars and all our lost soldiers look futile, doesn't it?

Democrats are trying to get rid of Alito so they can hire a compliant stooge for the court. Wouldn't surprise me if that's what Merchan is going for.

Dershowitz: 'I've never seen a spectacle' like 'tyrant' Judge Merchan | WND | by Bob Unruh

"Megyn is joined by legal experts Andy McCarthy and Phil Holloway to discuss whether Trump witness Robert Costello helped or hurt his case, if the defense team should have rested after they established Michael Cohen was a liar on the stand during cross-examination, and more.

Megyn, McCarthy, and Holloway discuss Judge Merchan withholding jury instructions from the public, jurors being exposed to outside influence during the Memorial Day holiday, the political pressure on the jury and the judge to get a conviction, and more." (Megyn Kelly podcast May 25.)

Trump NY Criminal Trial, Week 6: The Final Witnesses, Jury Instructions, and More – Megyn Kelly

Morning meditation on conversion

Morning meditation by Fr. Donald Haggerty:

"It should not be surprising that a desire for a simpler lifestyle is a common impulse after a serious conversion. This is not just the result of new discipline. The shock of finding God in a personal encounter, and of being known to him, is a penetrating light cast upon life itself. Standing before eternity, so to speak, is a jolting experience and awakens a realization that so many gratifications sought in this life are empty, and unworthy. The awareness of time catches hold of our soul with a keen sense of the transiency and impermanence of the things of this life. What a year earlier might have been a coveted object to possess, a desire or ambition to be pursued, seems now unmasked for its paltry insignificance. It is truly as though a light from heaven had shone on the worldly pleasures and gratifications that formerly occupied out life with hardly a thought.

This stripping away of the gloss and sheen covering much of life is a kind of revelation to the soul. The emptiness of the pursuit of self-gratification is soon tasted and often leaves a lasting aversion to indulgent habits in life. It is not surprising, then that we turn to a difference source of satisfaction. The life of prayer begins to attract us more. A kind of disinterest in chasing after chimeras roots itself in the soul. The result in part is the greater simplicity of lifestyle seen after every deeper conversion." Magnificat, May 2024, pp. 355-56

Fr. Donald Haggerty, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is currently serving at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. He has been a Professor of Moral Theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland and has a long association as a spiritual director for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. He is the author of many books.

Do Democrats ask questions about the direction of their party?

Anna at Facebook told me they don't, but I disagree.

"Some do. We were Democrats until 2000. It was their standing on the bloody corpses of the unborn that changed our minds about what else they stood for or who they were crushing. Others might just realize that the current trial could break the Constitution forever and wake up! Some could see that what is now the fringe (campus riots) could go mainstream quickly. Others will see that what was normal and accepted in science and society even 15 years ago is now an abomination to the Democrat party."

Norma

The Platform, 2000: "The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay. We believe it is a fundamental constitutional liberty that individual Americans — not government — can best take responsibility for making the most difficult and intensely personal decisions regarding reproduction. This year’s Supreme Court rulings show to us all that eliminating a woman’s right to choose is only one justice away. That’s why the stakes in this election are as high as ever." Online NewsHour: Democratic Platform 2000 (pbs.org)

I'm glad we got out then. Now, in 2024, the party preaches and tries to force on us, death in the womb up to the day of birth, and some on the fringe go further suggestion a year or two after to make sure the child isn't a burden to parents or just not bright enough, and that killing child in the womb is OK if a defect is discovered. Even biological sex is a mystery to the party which can't define a mother, or a woman, which wants to jail people for using the wrong pronoun, and advocate for men using women's restrooms, sports events and scholarships.

Collected thoughts of the week, and it's only Wednesday

I asked AI (co-pilot) "Did Biden tell Black Graduates they had no future in the USA and their country hated them?" and it gave me no answer, but I did see some ridiculous headlines from the Demedia which always covers for him.

This is the guy who told black Americans, "You ain't black if you don't vote for Biden." How racist is that?  Even Kamala Harris during the 2016 primaries reminded Democrat voters that Biden was a racist.

I've been listening to clips from the Demedia opinion writers (that would be all the journalists), and it seems some are fearful that Trump could be the totalitarian monster that Biden is! He might seek retribution if acquitted!! They wrote the playbook on crime and deception in politics and now they are afraid they might be cast!

I was just reading about the top 10 billionaires (all men). Two of them are immigrants (Musk and Brin) and one is the stepson of an immigrant (Bezos). There may be others, but I don't know all their stories. Donald Trump is the son of an immigrant and his beautiful wife is an immigrant. Immigration is good for the United States, and so is following the law by which they come. Biden's plan to overrun the country with illegal immigration is not healthy or patriotic, nor is he offering them a chance at a better life. He wants their votes.

All those female crazies complaining about a man speaking to a Catholic audience, praising his wife for being a homemaker, need to start speaking up for the rights of women they claim they are defending. Look what Biden did to Title IX!! There are real women being denied real rights by real men. Let's get going on that, ladies of the lefty press!

https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-hidden-history-of-bidens-title-ix-butchery/?

Judge Juan Merchan and Alvin Bragg might be the biggest advertisement for how bad the judicial system is. Merchan cleared the court room because he didn't like the look on Bob Costello's face (witness for the defense). Is this an immigrant thing? Is he in middle school? He's crazier than Biden. Bragg ran on putting Trump in jail, and then made up felony charges. The two are the three stooges.

Loren Merchan, daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, is the head of a digital marketing agency called Authentic Campaigns. The agency works with Democratic candidates and non-profits, providing services such as web design, digital fundraising, and mobile messaging. She's making money from this trial.

Trump says Judge Juan Merchan can rehabilitate ‘Justice System of New York’ by dismissing hush money case - Washington Examiner

Bill Maher was interviewed on the Megyn Kelly podcast. He's clueless about what has been happening the last 3 years. He believes, actually believes, that the protestors in J-6 broke down the doors (the guards opened them and showed them around--it's on tape) and that several police were killed. Those are media lies. Only one person was killed, and she was a veteran shot by Capitol police. He believes, actually believes, Hillary Clinton never said the 2016 election was stolen from her. Blind and deaf. We all heard it, why didn't he? Because he is part of the Demedia, yet he claims to be "independent."

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bill-maher-megyn-kelly-heatedly-231615264.html?

At least 100 terrorism-tied organizations are involved in the campus protests. Almost all these organizations have expressed support for Hamas and the October 7 attacks according to CRC in the News. So how have Democrats become so anti-Jew and anti-Israel all while terrifying their supporters with lies that the Trump supporters are Nazis? It didn't happen overnight, and they were well prepared to launch their US riots on October 8. If you are a Democrat, you need to be asking questions.

Another crazy Democrat female--born that way--running for Congressional office. "Sue Altmann headed South Jersey Women for Progressive Change (SJWPC) from 2018 until at least February 2020, including as co-chair of the political engagement committee. The group describes itself as an "8,000-member action network for intersectional grassroots advocacy and activism, open to all who identify as female or were assigned female at birth."  Another woman who can't tell you what a woman is. Dem Congressional Hopeful Sue Altman Led Group That Called To 'Imagine a Society Without Police' (freebeacon.com)

Our tax dollars hard at work for Gaza/Hamas.  Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse. Pictured: Palestinian men loot a truck carrying international humanitarian aid from the US-built floating pier near Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on May 18, 2024.   https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20658/gaza-aid-stolen?  When you think about it, the citizens may know they shouldn't let Hamas to get the aid to them, so they just stole it.

Wild kingdom at the Condo

Sometimes it's like wild kingdom outside my living room window where my desk is. Deer, heron, Mallards, rabbits, hawks, fox. I heard a crow making an awful ruckus and stepped outside to the deck to see what was going on. I looked and looked and followed the crow hopping from branch to branch by the creek. Then I saw it. Another animal, brown and black, not a bird was probably 30-40 ft up in a tree. I went back to my desk and grabbed the binoculars. I searched and searched. The crow was quiet. And then I saw it again. The largest raccoon I'd ever seen. In our 22 years here I'd never seen a raccoon, and now one was in a tree. He was probably hoping for an evening snack of a bird egg or two. That big old crow better get back on duty quick.

The deck has shed its winter coat.  Our friend Rod came over today and power washed it, the furniture and the stairs.  It was ghastly hot so he said he'd do the patio (where all the crud fell) another day and move the bush and trim the trees. As he had the chairs flipped over I noticed some of the legs had lost the little plastic disks that keep them from scraping the planks.  I'll have to look for some replacements. This set has held up well--probably got it about 20 years ago.

Aging is Painful by Adam Cifu from Sensible Medicine

"Aging is Painful

Anybody who gets to middle age knows that things don’t work like they used to. Around my house we say that any day that nothing hurts is remarkable. My patients are full of pithy phrases to make the point that aging is physically difficult.1

“Getting old is hard, but it beats the alternative.”

“Aging is not for wimps.”

“Every time I look in the mirror, I ask myself, how the hell did that happen?”

People respond to their progressive disability in all manners. Some fight at every turn. Every visit, irrespective of age, is spent discussing aches, pains, and things that can no longer be accomplished. There are demands for me to make things better. I find it challenging to address the concerns, rather than dismissing them with “it’s just age,” while also letting people know that some suffering is “part of the human condition.”

Other people accept frighteningly steep and acute declines. My challenge at these visits is to balance, “She’s not asking me to address the problem, so who am I to pry” with “This actually seems like something I should explore, even if she is willing to accept it.”

Where there is little diversity is our ability to adjust to disability. I was taught that people rate the quality of life with a disability higher when they are living with it than when they are watching other people live with it. Thirty years of clinical experience has made this real. We should add to the saying, “There but by the grace of God go I” the addendum “but, when I end up there, I’ll be OK.”

Aging is Sad

When I was an intern, I admitted an elderly woman with pneumonia. Her biggest problem was not the pneumococcus but her depression. Her mood made her miserable and the associated psychomotor retardation was going to make her post-hospital rehabilitation impossible. She was already taking an SSRI and seeing a therapist. I called her primary care doctor, a geriatrician. Like a true intern, I expected he would have an answer to her misery. His response was, “Yup, it is a sad time of life.”

There is a lot to be said for the golden years: retirement, family, friends, greater financial security – but as the years go on, the psychological costs mount. Besides the physical decline, there is the constant loss. I repeatedly hear, “Everyone around me is dying.” Siblings, cousins, friends. It sometimes seems like those who are most connected suffer the most – that big family that has always provided support now provides an unending procession of funerals.

People mourn their losses as well as their own mortality. You cannot ignore what is to come when your peers are dying. Those who deal with this best seem to be the people who can be honest that their grief about the loss of a friend is partly the fear and sadness that they are next.

Loss is Never Easy

I never felt like I had enough time with MM. Not that she needed time for me to attend to her medical problems. She was blessed with enviable genes and an outlook that combined cheer and steel. I just wanted time to hear more about her life and her experiences. I wanted to learn from her.

On one unpressured Friday afternoon we chatted. I did not have another patient to see, another note to write, or another meeting to run to. Her daughter would not pick her up until 6:00 PM. I told her that I still thought about her husband, also a patient of mine, who had died about a decade earlier.

She paused and then remarked. “We lived together in the same old house for more than 60 years. Every time something stops working there, I curse the damn house and I curse Charles for leaving me alone in it. He was always puttering around, fixing things. Then, of course, I think of the wonderful years we had here. I cry because I still miss him, and then I thank the house for reminding me of him.”

I can’t write anything original about loss and grief and mourning. We’ve been writing about it for as long as we’ve had written language. What strikes me, though, watching so many people experiencing loss, is that it is always hard. Losing a loved one is hard. It does not matter if your father is 50 or 90. It does not matter if your mother’s death is sudden or expected. It does not matter if you have come to terms with the complexity of your relationship with your sister or have not.

Our losses become a part of us, they shape us. The tearing, searing grief might last days, or weeks, or months, or years, but it always ends. Nobody, however, ever “recovers.” Nobody “gets over it.” Having known, having loved, and having lost makes us who we are."

https://www.sensible-med.com/p/friday-reflection-39-what-to-expect?

Watch out for all the scams

No, there is no discount on Forever stamps if you just click on a site [which will steal your credit card number].

No, there is no excess of something in a warehouse and you can get a really good deal or discount.

No, Medicare has not sent out new cards and all you have to do is read back the number on your old card to the caller who will hoax and scam you.

No, your membership is not about to expire at Lowes, or Amazon, or Walmart, and that too is a scam. (I get about 6 a day.)

No, someone is not trying to make a delivery and the driver is lost. so please give information.

No, no, no, and double no. Just hang up, or delete the message.

The Commencement speech heard around the world

I've read excerpts of Harrison Butker's speech at Benedictine College by journalists who have sliced and diced it from the left and right, without reading or listening, but finally listened to the whole thing. https://youtu.be/-JS7RIKSaCc?si=IoYc4Bscv7PbhYGV It was not what I expected. Remember--he is talking to college graduates about to go out and face the world! He spoke personally about vocation--his as a husband and father, and his wife's, whom he met in middle school, as a wife and mother. He attends the TLM, Traditional Latin Mass, and encouraged the graduates to choose a city not just for the career opportunities but for the availability of a believing, serving church. I've heard a lot of speeches over the years, but never heard that one! He did lay the responsibility for many of society's ills on emasculated men. He said to live in the post-God world one needs to "do small things well" and to choose friends carefully as they leave the bubble of campus life. But before he talked about his own life as a Christian father, he really took the bishops and priests to the wood shed for their failures, particularly during the Covid lockdown.

Butker is kicking butt and making Leftists furious

Harrison Butker's graduation address at a small Catholic college laying out the truth of the swamp in DC and our culture has apparently shocked some on the Left. How dare he? A football player lecturing us? I rarely watch ABC--it's background for breakfast because the kitchen table TV is not with cable, just babble. It's so difficult for Democrats to be really informed--I hear it all the time, about Covid, about climate, about the Biden laptop, the Biden crimes--they are incredibly uninformed so they will vote for good old Joe. But this speech is getting around if for no reason other than to criticize him. Hope he can keep his job. NYT, Wapo, HuffPo, LAT, etc. are enraged by his bigotry. Imagine. Telling the truth about DEI, Biden, killing the unborn etc. The 1% against the 99%. Conservatives must be completely silenced!!! (Hear the heels clicking?)

NFL Pushes Back On Harrison Butker's Bigoted Graduation Speech (msn.com)

Why the Speech by Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Was Embraced at Benedictine College's Commencement (usnews.com)

Chiefs Kicker Butker Congratulates Graduating Women, but Says Most Are More Excited About Motherhood (usnews.com)

Kansas City Chiefs Star's Biden Remarks Spark Debate (msn.com)

A busy May season

We've had a "busy" social spring--at least for us. On May 3 we went with our neighbors and friends Jerry and Joan, and Bill and Joyce to the "new" Old Bag of Nails." It's a restaurant we used to go to that has now moved to a new location--on the first floor of a retirement home! The food and atmosphere were about the same, even the prices didn't seem that bad, but it seems an odd location. Parking was bad. There's a lot going on in that area with the new city community center.  I wrote about it here, Collecting My Thoughts: Friday Night Date and a Derby Party on Saturday  

Then the next night we were at a Kentucky Derby party, at the Hahms.  Bob's horse won $4 so that means the evening was even, since mine West Saratoga didn't place.  He is a pretty horse with a good story which is why I chose him.  On Sunday morning we drove to Lakeside and ate a packed lunch on a picnic table near the lake.  But not too close--it was a little windy.  We spent the night at the Idlewyld B & B so we could greet the class Bob used to teach. This year he recruited Kevin Buckland because it's hard for Bob to be that long on his feet. We had a great time with Kevin and his wife Pertain and went to the Que (BBQ) for dinner on Saturday evening.  We had a room on the porch and Kevin set up a movie screen and we watched YouTube videos of other art shows.  

Then on Friday the 10th our condo association had a drive-way gathering BYOB and lawn chair. It was fun to see everyone. There's a new couple--haven't moved in yet but they came--probably 60-ish. That's usually the age. Kids grown, house is too big. Their house hasn't sold yet, so the price is probably too high because everyone is looking and can't find anything. Saturday we again went out with Jerry and Joan, and Bill and Joyce because the Sloughs are leaving today for Lake Erie and will be gone until Fall. 

  

On Sunday we went out to eat for Mother's Day with Phoebe and Mark to a restaurant "The Avenue" in Dublin, a suburb northwest of us. When we moved here over 50 years ago, Dublin was a sleepy little town of 19th century houses, and now it's booming. It was a lovely day and everything was delightful. Then Monday and lunch with Ron for his 90th birthday--and boom--by Tuesday we had this terrible cough caused I think from the mold and dust from cleaning the deck.

On May 15, 2012

 

  

Bob and Phil went to Lakeside for Spring clean up and stopped for a milkshake in Bucyrus

John Kasich is hard of hearing?

I just glanced at a quote by Ohio's John Kasich (former governor) that Biden wasn't a good communicator. Really? I understand him when he talks. He wants abortion legal to the day of birth. It's only about 10,000 viable infants who will die each year. He wants millions to come through our borders unscathed with no consequences. Some seek asylum, some wealth, some destruction of our country. He wants Israel to fail in wiping out Hamas. What country could possibly trust this guy? He wants Ukraine to win in its civil war against Russia with no options for negotiation. He wants me to drive an electric car at great expense and inconvenience. He wants girls to share locker rooms with boys and be beaten in athletic events. He wants the USA to go deeper in debt. No, John, I'm hearing him loud and clear. But sometimes Republicans are as hard of hearing as Democrats.

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)