I usually ignore these memes, but I read it today, and it sort of sobered me. Especially thinking about those 99%. How many of these ring true for you, 99 % of those born between 1930 and 1946 (worldwide) are now dead. If you were born in this time span, you are one of the rare surviving 1% ers of this special group. Their ages range between 77 and 93 years old, a 16 year age span.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE 1% ers:
You are the smallest group of children born since the early 1900's.
You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled the structure of our daily lives for years.
You are the last to remember ration books for everything from gas to sugar to shoes to stoves.
You saved tin foil and poured fried meat fat into tin cans.
You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the "milk box" on the porch.
Discipline was enforced by parents and teachers.
You are the last generation who spent childhood without television; instead, you "imagined" what you heard on the radio.
With no TV, you spent your childhood "playing outside".
There was no Little League.
There was no city playground for kids.
The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.
We got "black-and-white" TV in the late 40s that had 3 stations and no remote. (Kids were normally the remote.)
Telephones were one to a house, often shared (party lines), and hung on the wall in the kitchen (no cares about privacy).
Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.
Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and changing the ribbon.
'INTERNET' and 'GOOGLE' were words that did not exist.
New highways would bring jobs and mobility. Most highways were 2 lanes (no interstates).
You went downtown to shop. You walked to school.
The radio network expanded from 3 stations to thousands.
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living for their families.
You weren't neglected, but you weren't today's all-consuming family focus.
They were glad you played by yourselves.
They were busy discovering the postwar world.
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves.
You felt secure in your future, although the depression and poverty were deeply remembered.
Polio was still a crippler. Everyone knew someone who had it.
You came of age in the '50s and '60s.
You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no threats to our homeland.
World War 2 was over and the cold war, terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life.
Only your generation can remember a time after WW2 when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty.
You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better.
More than 99% of you are retired now, and you should feel privileged to have "lived in the best of times!"
If you have already reached the age of 77 years old, you have outlived 99% of all the other people in the world who were born in this special 16 year time span. You are a 1% 'er"!
* * * * * *
My parents didn't get a TV until they could get color transmission from Rockford, IL--I think it was 1957 and I was already away at college.
No, don't remember Little League, but we had community "commercial leagues" sponsored by local businesses, and the American Legion sponsored teams. There was a Corbett Oil team (my dad sponsored it). For younger kids I think there were "junior" teams. Anyone else remember that?
Yes, I remember party lines. We were 59-L. My older sisters (teens) were telephone operators so we knew the gossip.
Walking to downtown and school was about same distance. Small and smaller towns.
Playgrounds were school grounds. Easy to get to. Also, streets and sidewalks were safe. If you were playing soft ball you'd just yell, CAR.
Not sure our lives overflowed with plenty, but I do remember our first refrigerator which replaced the ice box. Big boxes were fun.
Yes, polio was huge in my memory. Affected family and friends.
I don't recall a time of no international threats. We had duck and cover drills and classroom movies about "the bomb." All the theaters had WWII movies. Plus we had parents who remembered the Depression and lived accordingly.
And, although I never thought much about it at the time, we had pretty clothes. Today's closet for a young girl is full of sweats, T-s, and ugly shoes.
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Kamalanomics
Michael Boskin says that there are three sources of insights into Harris’s economic thinking, “her positions when running for president in 2020, the Biden-Harris economic policies, and the economic program she rolled out Friday.”
Starting with the new policies she announced in a speech last Friday, Boskin explains that Harris wants to give first-time home buyers a $25,000 government check, favors subsidies to developers on low-income housing, and supports price controls on groceries." (Kamalanomics, Hoover Institute)
I wouldn't call those "insights," or "thinking." Give the general home buying public $25,000 to buy a house and all housing prices go up $25,000. That's 5th grade math. Only the free market works--even Communist China learned that when their economy was flailing. Definitely cat-lady economic theory.
Starting with the new policies she announced in a speech last Friday, Boskin explains that Harris wants to give first-time home buyers a $25,000 government check, favors subsidies to developers on low-income housing, and supports price controls on groceries." (Kamalanomics, Hoover Institute)
I wouldn't call those "insights," or "thinking." Give the general home buying public $25,000 to buy a house and all housing prices go up $25,000. That's 5th grade math. Only the free market works--even Communist China learned that when their economy was flailing. Definitely cat-lady economic theory.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Rough Sleepers September book club selection
Our book club assignment for September is Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder. Here is a summary of a model program from 1985 to the present at its website with a description of the book. Our History | Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (bhchp.org)
"2023: Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder is published. Kidder tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, (Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program) BHCHP’s founding physician and the BHCHP Street Team as they offer medical care and friendship to “rough sleepers”, our patients living on the streets. Tracy Kidder, a Pulitzer prize-winning author followed the Street Team for 5 years resulting in this New York Times bestseller.Rough Sleepers appears on the cover of the New York Times magazine with a 10,000-word author essay by Tracy Kidder and a photo montage of patients cared for by the BHCHP Street Team.
Barbara McInnis House respite program [in 2023] opens the Complex Addiction Treatment (CAT) team specializing in the respite care of people with active SUD using best practices from addiction medicine, harm reduction, and trauma informed models of care. This is a unique model of care: The team’s goals are
(1) to provide effective care to respite patients at BMH who are at high risk for adverse outcomes related to drug use
(2) to retain these patients in care at BMH to address the medical need(s) for which they were admitted and
(3) to decrease triggers and trauma for patients in respite who are not using drugs by cohorting and better supporting patients for whom cessation of use is not an option."
Additional information
Dr. Jim O'Connell wrote a memoir in 2015. House Calls To The Homeless: A Doctor Treats Boston's Most Isolated Patients : Shots - Health News : NPR
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Let's FACE the double standard about demonstrations
The federal FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
So why are pro-Hamas terrorists allowed to do the same activities on college campuses, major hi-ways, and at the Democratic National Convention. That must be a dilemma for Democrats. Demonstrating in front of an abortion clinic can get you put in jail, but demonstrating that you hate Jews and want to destroy Israel is no big deal.
So why are pro-Hamas terrorists allowed to do the same activities on college campuses, major hi-ways, and at the Democratic National Convention. That must be a dilemma for Democrats. Demonstrating in front of an abortion clinic can get you put in jail, but demonstrating that you hate Jews and want to destroy Israel is no big deal.
So if you block an ambulance with a heart attack patient or block the entrance to the library it's OK in the USA as long as it's to "free Palestine." Just don't demonstrate you care about the lives of the unborn.
Pro-life authors I'd like to read--Helen M. Alvaré
Helen Alvaré
Helen M. Alvaré is a renowned Catholic legal scholar and pro-life advocate. She is the Robert A. Levy Endowed Chair in Law and Liberty at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law.
Publications and Expertise
Alvaré publishes extensively on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion clauses. Her work has appeared in news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and CNN.com, as well as academic journals. She has also authored books and lectured widely on topics related to family, marriage, and religious freedom.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining George Mason University, Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and represented the U.S. bishops’ conference on pro-life issues. She has worked for over a decade in the Catholic Church’s pro-life efforts, lobbying Congress and speaking publicly on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
Recent Engagements
In 2024, Alvaré delivered the Tim Fischer Oration on Ethics in Public and Political Life, speaking on the importance of upholding Christian values in public discourse. She has also been recognized for her contributions to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and has been honored for her work on pro-life issues and broader public discourse on polarizing social issues.
Social Media
Alvaré is active on Twitter (@AlvareHelen), where she shares her thoughts on law, family, and faith, as well as her experiences as a Catholic scholar and advocate.
Helen M. Alvaré is a renowned Catholic legal scholar and pro-life advocate. She is the Robert A. Levy Endowed Chair in Law and Liberty at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law.
Publications and Expertise
Alvaré publishes extensively on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion clauses. Her work has appeared in news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and CNN.com, as well as academic journals. She has also authored books and lectured widely on topics related to family, marriage, and religious freedom.
Professional Experience
Prior to joining George Mason University, Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and represented the U.S. bishops’ conference on pro-life issues. She has worked for over a decade in the Catholic Church’s pro-life efforts, lobbying Congress and speaking publicly on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
Recent Engagements
In 2024, Alvaré delivered the Tim Fischer Oration on Ethics in Public and Political Life, speaking on the importance of upholding Christian values in public discourse. She has also been recognized for her contributions to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and has been honored for her work on pro-life issues and broader public discourse on polarizing social issues.
Social Media
Alvaré is active on Twitter (@AlvareHelen), where she shares her thoughts on law, family, and faith, as well as her experiences as a Catholic scholar and advocate.
Monday, August 19, 2024
How the Greens gaslight us all . . . but especially the poor.
How the Greens gaslight us all . . . but especially the poor.
"According to the World Bank, between 1990 and 2019, as emissions surged, the proportion of the world’s population in extreme poverty fell from 38 percent to 8.4 percent. Food production similarly soared from 2000 to 2020, with global primary-crop production rising by 52 percent, meat production by 45 percent, and vegetable oil production by 125 percent. Those figures well outstripped population growth and resulted in the daily caloric intake rising in every region of the globe. At the same time, the real global economy nearly doubled in value."
"Solar and wind are incapable of delivering the power needed for industrialization, powering water pumps, tractors and machines — all the ingredients needed to lift people out of poverty. As rich countries are now also discovering, solar and wind energy remain fundamentally unreliable. No sun or wind means no power. Battery technology offers no answers: today there are only enough batteries to power global average electricity consumption for one minute and 15 seconds. Even by 2030, with a projected rapid battery scale-up, they would last less than 12 minutes. For context, every German winter, when solar is a
"It Is often reported that emerging industrial powers like China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh are getting more power from solar and wind. But these countries get much more additional power from coal. Last year, China got more additional power from coal than it did from solar and wind. India got three times more electricity from coal than from green energy sources, Bangladesh 13 times more and Indonesia an astonishing 90 times more. If solar and wind really were cheaper, why would these countries not use them? Because reliability matters.
The usual way of measuring the cost of solar simply ignores its unreliability and tells us the price when the sun is shining. The same is true for wind energy. That does indeed make them slightly cheaper than other electricity sources: 3.6 US¢ per kWh for solar, just ahead of natural gas at 3.8 US¢, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But if you account for reliability, their real costs explode: in 2022, one peer-reviewed study showed an increase of 11-42 times, making solar by far the most expensive electricity source, followed by wind."
"Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kara, a fellow at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the Kennedy School, has been researching modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a "clean" supply chain of cobalt from the country. In his new book, Cobalt Red, Kara writes that much of the DRC's cobalt is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day."
"According to the World Bank, between 1990 and 2019, as emissions surged, the proportion of the world’s population in extreme poverty fell from 38 percent to 8.4 percent. Food production similarly soared from 2000 to 2020, with global primary-crop production rising by 52 percent, meat production by 45 percent, and vegetable oil production by 125 percent. Those figures well outstripped population growth and resulted in the daily caloric intake rising in every region of the globe. At the same time, the real global economy nearly doubled in value."
its minimum, there is near-zero wind energy available for at least five days — more than 7,000 minutes."
The usual way of measuring the cost of solar simply ignores its unreliability and tells us the price when the sun is shining. The same is true for wind energy. That does indeed make them slightly cheaper than other electricity sources: 3.6 US¢ per kWh for solar, just ahead of natural gas at 3.8 US¢, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But if you account for reliability, their real costs explode: in 2022, one peer-reviewed study showed an increase of 11-42 times, making solar by far the most expensive electricity source, followed by wind."
"Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kara, a fellow at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the Kennedy School, has been researching modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a "clean" supply chain of cobalt from the country. In his new book, Cobalt Red, Kara writes that much of the DRC's cobalt is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day."
Saturday, August 17, 2024
A Kennedy supports the never primaried candidate
Jack Kennedy Schlossberg, 31, is the grandson of John F. Kennedy and the son of Caroline Kennedy and has endorsed Kamala Harris for president and mocked his cousin, third-party candidate RFK Jr. No surprise here.
Friday, August 16, 2024
Children and exercise--the gym or outdoors?
I go to Lifetime Fitness (I call it the gym) about 5x a week. Sometimes parents bring their children--I think they need to be 12 to be a guest. They are well-behaved and no trouble--but I do feel sorry for them, especially the young girls who are probably already a little over concerned about their bodies.
No one wants to hear that we knew better in the "old days" but here it is. I hated school PE classes, I admit it. I did avoid all organized summer sports although the town had community leagues. But I certainly had a lot of exercise. Watching a little kid on one of those machines today I recalled:
No one wants to hear that we knew better in the "old days" but here it is. I hated school PE classes, I admit it. I did avoid all organized summer sports although the town had community leagues. But I certainly had a lot of exercise. Watching a little kid on one of those machines today I recalled:
- climbing trees
- riding horses
- biking on no-speed, manual brake bicycles
- playing hop-scotch
- raking leaves in the fall
- mowing the lawn in the summer
- pulling weeds in the garden in the summer
- digging dandelions in the yard in the spring
- running during recess
- swinging on the monkey bars in the school yard
- roller skating with strap on skates on the sidewalks
- catching tadpoles and frogs in creeks
- playing softball in the street with neighborhood kids
- delivering newspapers on a morning route
- running just because
- and we walked because our mean mothers wouldn't drive us everywhere we wanted to go!
Most of these with the exception of newspaper delivery were social activities--done with friends or a group.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
The White House plan for inflation, health and energy
“My plan is to lower everyday costs for hardworking families and lower the deficit by asking large corporations and the wealthiest Americans to not engage in price gouging and to pay their fair share in taxes.” — President Biden (White House web site)
The Harris Biden plan to reduce government induced inflation is to blame business. They flooded the nation with money long after the Covid crisis receded (in part created by their lockdown and masking policies) with too much money chasing too few goods. Many businesses just closed and some owners who fought back went to jail (especially in Minnesota under Walz who even had a tip line so neighbors could snitch on neighbors). Are they at fault for the policies that ruined them? The "wealthiest Americans" many of whom are backing Harris, can't bail them out with higher taxes. They just move their assets off shore. There's not enough money in their investments, which we need to grow, to reverse the bad monetary policy of the Harris Biden years.
The same WH message says they will take on Big Pharma, the same folks who prevented us from getting treatment for Covid because they could make greater profits with "preventive" measures that didn't work and actually wounded many Americans. Some Americans are still being terrorized by tax supported messages of fear and have submitted to 6 or 7 boosters while still wearing masks in their cars.
The same WH message says Democrats will lower our utility bills, but how will they do that when they intend to destroy fossil fuels in the pie in the sky plan to stop climate change, something that has been going on since the beginning of the record? What do you think is powering those electric vehicles? Coal!
Harris owns this. As vice president she casts the tie breaking vote in the Senate. She voted for those additional IRS agents to stop cheating on tips. Now she's running for cover by laughing and copying Trump's proposal to end taxes on tips.
We need a moderate Republican like Donald Trump in the White House to stop the radical leftist Democrat administration from destroying our economy and our Bill of Rights.
The Harris Biden plan to reduce government induced inflation is to blame business. They flooded the nation with money long after the Covid crisis receded (in part created by their lockdown and masking policies) with too much money chasing too few goods. Many businesses just closed and some owners who fought back went to jail (especially in Minnesota under Walz who even had a tip line so neighbors could snitch on neighbors). Are they at fault for the policies that ruined them? The "wealthiest Americans" many of whom are backing Harris, can't bail them out with higher taxes. They just move their assets off shore. There's not enough money in their investments, which we need to grow, to reverse the bad monetary policy of the Harris Biden years.
The same WH message says they will take on Big Pharma, the same folks who prevented us from getting treatment for Covid because they could make greater profits with "preventive" measures that didn't work and actually wounded many Americans. Some Americans are still being terrorized by tax supported messages of fear and have submitted to 6 or 7 boosters while still wearing masks in their cars.
The same WH message says Democrats will lower our utility bills, but how will they do that when they intend to destroy fossil fuels in the pie in the sky plan to stop climate change, something that has been going on since the beginning of the record? What do you think is powering those electric vehicles? Coal!
Harris owns this. As vice president she casts the tie breaking vote in the Senate. She voted for those additional IRS agents to stop cheating on tips. Now she's running for cover by laughing and copying Trump's proposal to end taxes on tips.
We need a moderate Republican like Donald Trump in the White House to stop the radical leftist Democrat administration from destroying our economy and our Bill of Rights.
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Harris and the takeover
Why in the world would Harris sit for an interview, even for friendly, soft ball questions from the "legacy media?" The media have already puffed her up to princess level; she's already allowed a foreign invasion as the Border Czar. How much difference did it make to Democrats that she did nothing. Said nothing. Answered no criticism. She only has to wait and not speak. She lies when her lips move, so what difference does it make? No shots fired. Easy Peasy. The stage is set for the totalitarian takeover.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Pray as though your life depended on it--because it's true
We are on the brink of war with Iran who is allied with Russia and China. Our current "border czar" allowed many terrorists to enter our country and they are now working with the rioters on the campuses and in our major (mostly blue) cities. She's busy campaigning for another 4 years of careless, anti-American, weak, feckless leadership and refuses to repudiate her years as Biden's right-hand lackey. She was not primaried, she was not selected by the people.
Pray as though our lives depend on God. It has ever and always been so, but some need more evidence. And it is right in front of us.
Pray as though our lives depend on God. It has ever and always been so, but some need more evidence. And it is right in front of us.
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Break dancing at the Olympics
Count me as one who says break dancing is not an Olympic sport (why not have waltz or Texas 2-step events?). It is the height of hypocrisy for a black man to criticize a Lithuanian woman for wearing a Durag in a break dance event as "cultural appropriation." They expect us to accept a man parading in heavy mascara, 4 inch heels and sex hormones as a woman. That's absolutely cultural and sexual appropriation! The whole concept of an Olympic contest is cultural appropriation from Greece in 776 BC. Get over yourself.
Friday, August 09, 2024
Election fraud and Democrats--refresh your memory
When so many have already tossed the assassination attempt of Trump down the memory hole (less than a month ago), perhaps it's too much to hope we can recall election fraud and conspiracies by Democrats in the past. 1988 was the last time Democrats didn't cry fraud when they lost. Pelosi is already making threats about 2025 if Trump wins. So how is their record? Especially for mail in ballots, always ripe for fraud. New York Times and Washington Post used to warn of the dangers, then after 2020, Republicans were accused of being conspiracy theorists or spreading misinformation if they questioned the flood of ballots. Listen if you don't have time to search or read the book. In case you missed it, Walz, the vice president pick of the Democrat party for 2024, is already laying plans to outlaw free speech if he deems it misinformation. To refresh your memory. . .
Edith Stein, August 9 memorial
Today, August 9, we Christians and Jews memorialize the death of Edith Stein, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was killed in Auschwitz on August 9 for both her ethnic Jewish heritage (had converted to Catholicism in 1922 after being an atheist) and her Catholicism. After the Dutch Catholic Bishops had condemned the Nazis for the persecution of the Jews in 1942, Roman Catholics were rounded up and sent to the death camps.
The Collect for her memorial in the "Episcopal Book of Common Prayer" reads as follows:
"Pour out your grace upon thy church, O God; that, like your servant Edith Stein, we may always seek what is true, defend what is right, reprove what is evil, and forgive those who sin against us, even as your Son commanded; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and forever."
Yad Vashem, the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem, commemorates Edith Stein as a Jewish woman murdered by the Nazis: “Edith Stein was born in Breslau, Germany in 1891. Prior to WWII she lived in Koeln, Germany. Edith was murdered in the Shoah.”
Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1998.
-----------
Let's remember on this day that Nazi (National Socialists) totalitarianism was against Christians as well as Jews. To revere God as higher than the state is a crime in totalitarian societies. Today we need to watch for that evil as the creeping socialism in our own country becomes an open, in-your-face marathon. We see attacks on Jews in our elite universities and the FBI has been found spying on traditional Catholics. Parents lose their rights for fighting against the agenda of radical trans activists who deny God's plan of Creation of male and female.
(Information from Magnificat, August 2023, pp. 117-118 and Praytellblog,com)
The Collect for her memorial in the "Episcopal Book of Common Prayer" reads as follows:
"Pour out your grace upon thy church, O God; that, like your servant Edith Stein, we may always seek what is true, defend what is right, reprove what is evil, and forgive those who sin against us, even as your Son commanded; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and forever."
Yad Vashem, the memorial to the victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem, commemorates Edith Stein as a Jewish woman murdered by the Nazis: “Edith Stein was born in Breslau, Germany in 1891. Prior to WWII she lived in Koeln, Germany. Edith was murdered in the Shoah.”
Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1998.
-----------
Let's remember on this day that Nazi (National Socialists) totalitarianism was against Christians as well as Jews. To revere God as higher than the state is a crime in totalitarian societies. Today we need to watch for that evil as the creeping socialism in our own country becomes an open, in-your-face marathon. We see attacks on Jews in our elite universities and the FBI has been found spying on traditional Catholics. Parents lose their rights for fighting against the agenda of radical trans activists who deny God's plan of Creation of male and female.
(Information from Magnificat, August 2023, pp. 117-118 and Praytellblog,com)
Wednesday, August 07, 2024
FACT and Kamala Harris and Walz and born alive
On June 26, 2018, the US Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to strike down as unconstitutional the 2015 California Reproduction Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act (the “FACT Act”). This law was co-sponsored by California's then Attorney General Kamala Harris. The law required crisis pregnancy centers that offer reproductive health services to inform clients, by posted notice or handout, about California’s public programs that provide low-cost or free contraception and abortion services. It also required that they post a phone number for more information, and that unlicensed facilities post a notice acknowledging that they are not a licensed health care provider.
But in 2023, Walz worked with his new Democrat-controlled Legislature to eliminate both the REPORTING requirement and the state’s legal obligation for doctors, nurses and medical professionals to administer LIFE SAVING CARE to infants born alive during an abortion procedure. The governor-turned-vice presidential nominee signed an omnibus bill known as SF2995 that closed one of the few statistical windows on late-term abortions and the possibility that babies born alive were left to die."
Tim Walz Removed Born-Alive Abortion Reporting Requirements (dailysignal.com)
And this is the guy who called Vance weird?
Just another example from the memory hole of how much Harris wanted women to get abortions instead of giving birth to healthy babies and how much she tried to destroy free speech.
And the record of her running mate, Tim Walz, on abortion and the value of babies born alive after an abortion is even worse.
"Minnesota was the rare state to require such born-alive abortions to be publicly reported, creating a powerful statistic for pro-life and anti-abortion forces to draw upon.
And the record of her running mate, Tim Walz, on abortion and the value of babies born alive after an abortion is even worse.
"Minnesota was the rare state to require such born-alive abortions to be publicly reported, creating a powerful statistic for pro-life and anti-abortion forces to draw upon.
But in 2023, Walz worked with his new Democrat-controlled Legislature to eliminate both the REPORTING requirement and the state’s legal obligation for doctors, nurses and medical professionals to administer LIFE SAVING CARE to infants born alive during an abortion procedure. The governor-turned-vice presidential nominee signed an omnibus bill known as SF2995 that closed one of the few statistical windows on late-term abortions and the possibility that babies born alive were left to die."
Tim Walz Removed Born-Alive Abortion Reporting Requirements (dailysignal.com)
And this is the guy who called Vance weird?
Biden and the Constitution
I have a copy of the Constitution of the United States (and with Index, and The Declaration of Independence) c. 2009, 2012--in my hand. Every American should own one and read it occasionally. Especially the part about 3 branches of government. It's hard to imagine how powerful and historic such a small booklet can be--although it's not the print or the pages, but what it represents. And yet, Biden (and Harris/Walz) are willing to destroy it, with the most recent attack against SCOTUS. Biden should be on his knees smoothing their robes for their decision to clarify immunity for the president. There is so much crime, evil and malfeasance in his administration that sooner or later some clever lawyer/prosecutor just might string a few laws together that show it all started at the top. The Biden years are an insult to that precious document.
Tuesday, August 06, 2024
Harris choses the most leftist of the party, Tim Walz
So the defund the police riot control candidate chooses a let it burn down candidate.
The mayor of Minneapolis failed and the governor of Minnesota failed to get things under control until the rioting spread across the nation, in late May-June, 2020. The senator from California jumped on the defund the police and raised bail for rioters bandwagon. Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, most likely lost out because he's a Jew and Kamala, being at the far left of her party, favors the Palestinians.
What a team!
The mayor of Minneapolis failed and the governor of Minnesota failed to get things under control until the rioting spread across the nation, in late May-June, 2020. The senator from California jumped on the defund the police and raised bail for rioters bandwagon. Pennsylvania's governor, Josh Shapiro, most likely lost out because he's a Jew and Kamala, being at the far left of her party, favors the Palestinians.
What a team!
Sunday, August 04, 2024
Semaglutide and weight loss for diabetes or obesity
I recently saw a photo (mid-2023) of Oprah on Dr. Peter Attia's web site (promotes health, longevity, exercise, etc.) and noticed how thin she was. I heard she'd been on one of the GLP-1 drugs (semaglutide[Ozempic, Wegovy]) and had stopped the "healthy" diet promotions. That article was a "members only" read, but here's what she told People magazine.
“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” Winfrey stated. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
I wonder if the thin Oprah will be as popular as the fluffy Oprah?
Some researchers question the safety, and others who are not researchers (me) think it's too expensive.
Because it also lowers the risk of some other dangerous health conditions, how much should the taxpayers be chipping in? Ozempic is FDA approved for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy is FDA approved for weight loss with or without diabetes. This matters for insurance, but there is a cost either way. Someone pays. Someone makes a profit.
Remembering how Hormone Replacement Therapy drugs were called a "miracle" about 30 years ago to prevent heart attack, stroke, dementia etc. as well as hot flashes, then were dropped in 2022, I'd be a bit cautious. That's a personal opinion.
Here's a video, useful for its recency with a voice over to help with pronunciation.
“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for,” Winfrey stated. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
I wonder if the thin Oprah will be as popular as the fluffy Oprah?
Some researchers question the safety, and others who are not researchers (me) think it's too expensive.
Because it also lowers the risk of some other dangerous health conditions, how much should the taxpayers be chipping in? Ozempic is FDA approved for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy is FDA approved for weight loss with or without diabetes. This matters for insurance, but there is a cost either way. Someone pays. Someone makes a profit.
Remembering how Hormone Replacement Therapy drugs were called a "miracle" about 30 years ago to prevent heart attack, stroke, dementia etc. as well as hot flashes, then were dropped in 2022, I'd be a bit cautious. That's a personal opinion.
Here's a video, useful for its recency with a voice over to help with pronunciation.
Friday, August 02, 2024
What Kamala Harris believes
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-kamala-harris-believes-c1136006
What Kamala Harris Believes
The Vice President’s political record reveals the views of a California progressive.
Democrats are rapidly unifying behind Kamala Harris as their party nominee, yet the Vice President remains relatively unknown to most Americans. That means it’s important to look at her record to see what she believes.
As VP she’s closely identified with the Biden agenda, for better or worse, and she embraced that record in remarks on Monday. She said President Biden’s first term has “surpassed the legacy” of most Presidents who have served two.
So mark her down as endorsing the spending blowouts that caused inflation, the Green New Deal, entitlement expansions and student loan forgiveness. Until she says otherwise, we should also assume she’s in favor of Mr. Biden’s $5 trillion tax increase in 2025.
The Vice President’s four years as a Senator from California are another window on her worldview. She sponsored a bill to create a $6,000 guaranteed income for families making up to $100,000. Another Harris proposal: A refundable tax credit that would effectively cap rents and utility payments at 30% of income. Liberal economists panned the subsidy because it would drive up rents.
She co-sponsored legislation with Bernie Sanders that would pay tuition at four-year public colleges for students from families making up to $125,000. This is more honest than the Administration’s back-end student loan cancellation. But it would cost $700 billion over a decade and encourage colleges to increase tuition.
Another Bernie mind-meld: Single-payer healthcare. Ms. Harris co-sponsored his Medicare for All legislation paid for by higher income taxes. She tweaked Bernie’s plan when running for President in 2019 by extending the phase-in to 10 years from four and exempting households making less than $100,000 from the “income-based premium.” But it would still put government in charge of all American healthcare over time.
As a San Francisco Democrat, Ms. Harris shares the state’s hostility to fossil fuels. She used her power as California Attorney General to launch an investigation into Exxon Mobil over its carbon emissions. In 2019 she endorsed a nationwide ban on oil and gas fracking, which would cost tens of thousands of jobs and cause power outages like those that often occur in her home state. Expect this to be a GOP talking point in Pennsylvania.
One question to ask is whether the Vice President wants to restructure the Supreme Court. She said in 2019 she was “open” to adding more Justices, but that idea doesn’t poll well. Does she agree with Mr. Biden’s mooted plan to endorse “reforms” to the High Court that would make the Justices subject to Congressional supervision?
Mr. Biden famously put Ms. Harris in charge of border policy, and we know how that has turned out. Rather than push for border policy changes, her first instinct was to blame the rush of migrants on “root causes” in developing countries, including corruption, violence, poverty and “lack of climate adaptation and climate resilience.”
Climate change makes the U.S. border a sieve? Apparently so. “In Honduras, in the wake of hurricanes, we must deliver food, shelter, water and sanitation to the people,” Ms. Harris declared. “And in Guatemala, as farmers endure continuous droughts, we must work with them to plant drought-resistant crops.” These “root causes” take decades to address, and in the meantime she had nothing to say about actual border security.
Ms. Harris’s foreign policy views aren’t well known, or perhaps even well formed, apart from promoting Mr. Biden’s policies. While she has backed the Administration’s military assistance to Ukraine, she has equivocated about support for Israel. In March she chastised Israel for not doing enough to ease a “humanitarian catastrophe.” Leaks to the press say officials at the National Security Council toned down her speech’s criticism of Israel.
She lambasted the Trump Administration for killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani, claiming it could lead to bigger war in the Mideast. The killing chastened Iran’s rulers instead, at least until the Biden Administration began to ease sanctions and tried to repeat the 2015 nuclear deal.
It will be especially important for the press to ask Ms. Harris about her national security views. If her handlers control her as much as White House advisers have Mr. Biden, we’ll know they’re afraid that the Vice President might not be able to handle the scrutiny.
A fair conclusion from all of this is that Ms. Harris is a standard California progressive on most issues, often to the left of Mr. Biden. Perhaps as she reintroduces herself to the public in the coming weeks, she will modify some of those views. She would be wise to do so if she wants to win.
Given the rush by Democrats to anoint Ms. Harris as their nominee, the press has a particular obligation to tell the public about who she is and what she really thinks. Does she believe California is a model for the country?
Thursday, August 01, 2024
Kamala Harris was supposed to be there
Donald Trump comes into a hostile environment with bad equipment and poor sound. President Trump showed up and Kamala Harris didn't. She can't face an audience--will probably campaign from the basement just as her mentor, Joe Biden, did in 2020. I heard the entire Q & A between Trump and the ABC host. She lied about him from the get-go and he was gracious and honest after he called her on her rudeness. But he held his ground, made his points, and she on behalf of black journalists looked rude, weak and foolish.
He absolutely did not attack Kamala for her race. I heard every word. She threw out a gotcha question on DEI and he asked for a definition, but got no answer. So, he said when he first became aware of Kamala Harris he thought she was an Indian-American, because that's how her election to the Senate was described--not by him, but by the media. It was called historic! You can watch the videos! When it was to her advantage, she "became black." So, his detractors say calling her an Indian-American is insulting? Oh my, Democrats are such racists!
https://youtu.be/fqF54777VsY?si=HIXsT7MB7dflEzn8 Megyn Kelly on National Association of Black Journalists' conference,
He absolutely did not attack Kamala for her race. I heard every word. She threw out a gotcha question on DEI and he asked for a definition, but got no answer. So, he said when he first became aware of Kamala Harris he thought she was an Indian-American, because that's how her election to the Senate was described--not by him, but by the media. It was called historic! You can watch the videos! When it was to her advantage, she "became black." So, his detractors say calling her an Indian-American is insulting? Oh my, Democrats are such racists!
https://youtu.be/K3oflr7rEU4?si=h_3znfqYnM8LeK0K Historic first Indian American in Senate
https://youtu.be/QiVNHyl0_3E?si=bk7w1PRfbd6PwCh8 Charlie Kirk on Megyn Kelly
https://youtu.be/QiVNHyl0_3E?si=bk7w1PRfbd6PwCh8 Charlie Kirk on Megyn Kelly
https://youtu.be/w5PyJw3TYgY?si=6ebuNBav5EX15tht Kamala speaking code for black audiences
https://youtu.be/WRPpP277D8Y?si=CLI7FzMF2hjGk6cQ Judge Joe Brown calls her a Ho and corrupt; ;and "she ain't black". Met her father--he wasn't black.
https://youtu.be/2nTjb1QJmnU?si=UJnWyK5ePn9bFQyM Harris campaign staffer tells all. Tell the donor what they want to hear. James O'Keefe.
Research for Tracy Kidder book on Rough Sleepers
Our book club is reading Tracy Kidder's book, Rough Sleepers (2023). I was researching some of his information on homelessness, and saw the subtle but common myth some of our current burden was the Reagan policies "with its deep cuts in programs for the poor and policies that led to declines in the supply of inexpensive housing." ( p. 55) I'll skip over the housing supply (single room occupancy) because that is a local/city problem. I did find the article in "Behavorial health news," by Michael B. Friedman, which I then checked further, since it also brought up Reagan. Yes, there was a 1983 SSDI law passed to stop fraud and he signed it. Then it was revised twice in 1984 and actually eased the requirements so the disability awards shot up, not down. Since I was a Democrat then and only believed the worst about Reagan (same media treatment that Trump gets, and Bush before him) I had always believed Reagan was the reason people were put on the streets.
But as the author himself wrote, the deinstitutionalization which is closely tied to the SSDI recipients finding housing began in the 60s and 70s, long before Reagan was in the White House. And truly, one can't deny that most of the programs that make it to Congress and the White House begin in academe (where I worked). Congressmen are so busy raising money to campaign they have no time to dream up billions in social and economic programs, or even read the bills they vote on.
But I want to pass along two experiences with government programs for the disabled, one from the late 1960s and one from 2020. In the late 60s at church coffee hour I met a former pastor of the Church of the Brethren (Anabaptist tradition) who was a social worker in one of the rural Ohio residential institutions for the blind and deaf mentally challenged. It was in the process of "deinstitutionalizing" his clients because he said, "they deserved their civil rights like any other citizen." Joe was thrilled with the idea. At that time, I was a giddy humanist in my early 30s, so he convinced me they would do fine on the "outside" because there would be community programs and smaller homes (not yet established) that would help them. So, many of them lost the only home they knew and life long friends.
In October 2019, our son was diagnosed with glioblastoma. He was 51, employed and a homeowner with a mortgage, but no wife or adult children, only his 80 something parents. However, he could not work, especially not after the surgery and chemo which is the same "slash and burn" method of 30-40 years ago. The SSDI application was brutal. I can't imagine how anyone, let alone someone who has been on the streets, completes it. Our daughter who works in the medical field and her cousin who was a lawyer for Social Security in DC worked together on it. Probably took eight hours with both working on it. The sick, unemployed person usually waits 6 months--to prevent fraud (which vastly increased during Obama years as people lost their insurance). He died about 6 months and 1 week after the application went to Washington. He paid his bills with his IRAs and retirement account, he had family to help, and it was all used up in 6 months plus he was charged a penalty for closing out his retirement funds and he had to pay income tax on it (or rather his estate did since he was deceased).
Between the green local laws to save the environment which adds thousands to every home purchase/rental and the new codes for safety and transportation, all types of housing have become prohibitive. Plus this is not the 1930s culture where people let even cousins or childhood friends sleep or rent a room at their home. Let's not point fingers at the 40 year old Reagan administration; there has been plenty of mischief since then.
Are you old enough to remember or have studied the housing shortage after WWII? Low income, inadequate housing was taken off the market through special codes. A lot of livable housing was condemned. There was no actual shortage. Reagan was a movie star then, not a politician. There were the same number of housing units in 1945 as in 1940--it was the liberal policies that destroyed them by law.
California has become a cesspool of homelessness by fixing the tax system with Prop 13 so no one would dare move and it weakened the tax revenue for supportive services. The grifting of non-profit agencies and probably thousands of California state employees to "fix" a problem has contributed to the now mushrooming homeless population who suffer from legal and illegal drugs, alcoholism, mental illness, illegal immigration, an aging population, lack of general life skills, and mentally challenged (probably some blind, deaf).
It wasn't Reagan and it isn't Trump. But it is government at all levels working with academe. It's liberal, pie in the sky programs that don't work which began in academe by people who need to publish and who don't live in reality or a low income neighborhoods.
* * * *
Growth of homelessness--who caused it? Reagan policies, loss of SRO housing, closing of institutional care facilities, 1968-1973 (about 1/3 of the increase), https://www-origin.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/04/08/how-americans-game-the-200-billion-a-year-disability-industrial-complex/
Why Are the Disability Rolls Skyrocketing? The Contribution of Population Characteristics, Economic Conditions, and Program Generosity, pp. 337-379, chapter 11 in "Health at Older Ages: The Causes and Consequences of Declining Disability among the Elderly" (2009) https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c11119/c11119.pdf
Deinstitutionalization Did Not Cause Homelessness: Loss of Low-income Housing and Disability Benefits Did By: Michael B. Friedman, LMSW Mental Health Policy Advocate
April 1st, 2020 https://behavioralhealthnews.org/deinstitutionalization-did-not-cause-homelessness-loss-of-low-income-housing-and-disability-benefits-did/
"At the height of deinstitutionalization in New York (1968-1973), people who were discharged (with wildly inadequate discharge plans) were not homeless. Most went to live with family. Some went to adult homes. Many went to nursing homes because they had dementia. And quite a few went to single-room occupancy hotels (SROs) and other places where poor people lived. To be sure, this resulted in huge family burden, inadequate care in adult homes, transinstitutionalization to often unprepared nursing homes, and squalid sometimes dangerous living conditions in SROs and poor neighborhoods. But they were not literally homeless. In fact, the scandal that led to the creation of the community residence program for people with mental illness in NYS was not homelessness. It was the squalid and dangerous conditions in SROs."
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
The Olympics, 2024 in Paris
I've watched one Olympic event. Men's volleyball. I didn't intend to since France has promoted yet another drag queen outrage against Christians (let them try that on Muslims). I knew nothing about volleyball, and truth be told, still don't, but I was captive.
I was at the dentist and the TV was on, muted.
Now I've researched it and I know the short guy (6'), the libero, didn't forget his uniform. They always have a different color. Most have played in the Olympics several times, but there are 3 new ones. And I didn't even know we had national teams. https://www.kshb.com/news/team-usa-avoids-disaster-five-set-win-over-germany?
I was at the dentist and the TV was on, muted.
Now I've researched it and I know the short guy (6'), the libero, didn't forget his uniform. They always have a different color. Most have played in the Olympics several times, but there are 3 new ones. And I didn't even know we had national teams. https://www.kshb.com/news/team-usa-avoids-disaster-five-set-win-over-germany?
Monday, July 29, 2024
Vacation Bible School beautiful art at UALC Mill Run
After Sunday School on July 28 (Lytham Rd. congregation at Windermere school while our regular space is being remodeled) we drove to our church's other location, Mill Run, which is in Hilliard, to look at the art of the VBS Kindergarten-fifth grade. The theme was Jesus' parables and the children made 2 things in their art time--puppets and theater curtains.
When VBS was over the curtains were saved and hung in the upper level. The best view was standing at the end of the corridor and taking in the explosion of color. Like the parables, "the curtains REVEAL (open) and show the drama and they also CONCEAL (close) and hide it. They create anticipation. They help our hearts lean toward the truth. The stage curtain is open or closed and the meaning of the parable is open or closed depending on the readiness of the hearts in the audience. It's by grace that our hearts become ready to hear God's word with faith."
When VBS was over the curtains were saved and hung in the upper level. The best view was standing at the end of the corridor and taking in the explosion of color. Like the parables, "the curtains REVEAL (open) and show the drama and they also CONCEAL (close) and hide it. They create anticipation. They help our hearts lean toward the truth. The stage curtain is open or closed and the meaning of the parable is open or closed depending on the readiness of the hearts in the audience. It's by grace that our hearts become ready to hear God's word with faith."
I think (I don't teach and have no one in those classes) they emphasized treasure, thus all the glam and glitter and jewels woven into the curtains. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” It's difficult for adults to understand Jesus' parables, so perhaps this will start them on a study and discussion that could go on and on.
We were both impressed, not only with the message, but by the effort (by the adult volunteers and teachers). To make these people donated necklaces, earrings, bracelets and weaving fabric for the children to create the 12 curtains.
I enjoyed art as a child, but hated "group" or "team" projects. I would have been the one complaining waiting for recess. I was artistic and always had to pull the others along. We think of that as relatively new--but we were doing it in the 1940s too. That said, I still have one VBS project I made when I was about 8 and we attended Faith Lutheran in Forreston, IL. Bookends made of wood with a cross on them. When I look at them now, I can remember all the adults who were working behind the scenes, because it was quite complex (involved wood burning, painting, and varnishing to preserve it). So even though I could say, "I did that," and take it home, there was a whole lot of labor in it that wasn't mine. God bless those VBS teachers (who learn more than the kids).
If you'd like to see it, the display will be up the rest of the summer. http://ualc.org
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Cyber Slaves in Asia
When I formed a question I thought AI (Copilot) would give me, I got this:
It was about slave computer scammers. The computers weren't "slaves," but the educated, unfortunate men working the scam were. Governments across a vast swathe of Asia - including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan - have sounded the alarm reports BBC. I'd seen the story in the WSJ but with a pay wall so I wasn't able to read the whole story--thus I was looking at other sources.
We in the U.S. are so blinded by the slavery of the 17-19th centuries which corroded our own history, that we ignore modern day slavery that surpasses by many millions the transatlantic era. This kind of "investment" doesn't get used up--it's renewable. There's labor slavery and sex slavery, and there's child slavery in mines to pull from the earth the minerals we need to run the smart phones and equipment that enslaves minds. The WSJ story is almost too bizarre to comprehend--cyber slavery.
This is from BBC:
"The manager told me to work obediently, not to try to escape or resist or I will be taken to the torture room… Many others told me if they did not meet the target, they would be starved and beaten."
The abuse often results in lasting trauma. Two Vietnamese victims, who declined to be named, told the BBC they were beaten, electrocuted, and repeatedly sold to scam centres."
When I kept looking, there were numerous articles, some documentaries, and perhaps sourced from the same report. In this case the cybercriminals are themselves victims of the crime.
"Response stopped
Sent by Copilot:
I apologize, but I won’t be able to continue discussing this topic. If you have any other questions or need assistance, feel free to ask. Thank you! "
Sent by Copilot:
I apologize, but I won’t be able to continue discussing this topic. If you have any other questions or need assistance, feel free to ask. Thank you! "
It was about slave computer scammers. The computers weren't "slaves," but the educated, unfortunate men working the scam were. Governments across a vast swathe of Asia - including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan - have sounded the alarm reports BBC. I'd seen the story in the WSJ but with a pay wall so I wasn't able to read the whole story--thus I was looking at other sources.
We in the U.S. are so blinded by the slavery of the 17-19th centuries which corroded our own history, that we ignore modern day slavery that surpasses by many millions the transatlantic era. This kind of "investment" doesn't get used up--it's renewable. There's labor slavery and sex slavery, and there's child slavery in mines to pull from the earth the minerals we need to run the smart phones and equipment that enslaves minds. The WSJ story is almost too bizarre to comprehend--cyber slavery.
This is from BBC:
""I was forced to make 15 friends every day and entice them to join online gambling and lottery websites… of these, I had to convince five people to deposit money into their gaming accounts," he said.
"The manager told me to work obediently, not to try to escape or resist or I will be taken to the torture room… Many others told me if they did not meet the target, they would be starved and beaten."
The abuse often results in lasting trauma. Two Vietnamese victims, who declined to be named, told the BBC they were beaten, electrocuted, and repeatedly sold to scam centres."
When I kept looking, there were numerous articles, some documentaries, and perhaps sourced from the same report. In this case the cybercriminals are themselves victims of the crime.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
My pedicure at a Cambodian nail salon
For someone my age, a pedicure is pure luxury, and also a necessity. The salon I've been using the last year and a half has an all Asian staff, but I didn't know the country. They could all speak to each other, and some spoke a little English, but I didn't feel comfortable asking. This past Monday, the young lady only spoke English and said they were all Cambodians. She was born in the U.S. and told me her step-mother worked there (so I had the impression she was only there occasionally). She told me there were many Cambodians living in the Columbus area. Later when I was under the dryer another customer told me that the owner of this salon had started it after working in another salon in our community. Wow. What entrepreneurs. And all female! And I was to discover, a lot more to the story.
"The very afternoon of the day they captured Phnom Penh, they ordered its population (that had swelled from half a million to more than two million during the civil war) to evacuate the city and go to their ancestral villages. Even patients in hospitals were forced to move, some being pushed along while lying on gurneys. Along the way, Khmer Rouge cadres cajoled people, at gunpoint, to tell their life stories so that former government officials and military commanders, educated people, professionals of every kind, merchants, and landlords could be identified. Branded as enemies of the people, these unfortunate individuals were shot or bludgeoned to death. The Khmer Rouge defrocked Buddhist monks, the most revered persons in traditional Cambodian society, forced them to work in the fields, and killed many of them. They used Buddhist temples to store their weapons and ammunition. Barely a year after coming to power, Pol Pot ordered his most trusted henchmen to arrest, imprison, torture, and execute thousands of individuals among the Khmer Rouge’s own officials, political cadres, and military commanders, including a large number of high-ranking ones, whom he suspected of being disloyal to him. The Khmer Rouge closed schools and colleges, and abolished private property, money, banks, markets, hospitals, Western medicine, and all other modern institutions. They let vehicles and machinery rust in the humid tropical climate because they opposed the use of such symbols of Western modernity. They separated husbands from their wives and children who were older than seven from their parents. They also trained children to spy on their parents and interrogated the youngsters about what their parents had talked about.7 The entire country was turned into a giant slave labor camp: people had to plant and harvest crops, as well as build dams and levees, with their bare hands while subsisting on meager bowls of thin rice gruel. Starving individuals who dared to catch fish, mice, lizards, and other creatures or to look for wild plants to eat were severely punished or even killed."
I looked up Cambodians in the U.S. There was a civil war in the 1970s in Cambodia and the Communists won. An estimated 1.7 million people out of an estimated total population of 7.9 million died from executions, hunger, disease, injuries, coerced labor, and exposure to the elements. Think of that. They killed about a fourth of the population. After the Communists took over, life became so awful I'll just quote my source. (Chan, Sucheng. "Cambodians in the United States: Refugees, Immigrants, American Ethnic Minority." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History.)
Read that carefully. You'll notice some oddly familiar themes. Destroying the educated, destroying religion, destroying families, destroying symbols of Western civilization, and finally killing off the very people who helped build the power structure.
This encyclopedia article is very informative but is laced with the usual blame and coulda shoulda woulda complaints about American society. (This is not uncommon in the Oxford encyclopedias.) Still, it's worth reading for an overview. Cambodians in the United States: Refugees, Immigrants, American Ethnic Minority | Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History
The Hamas Pro-Palestine protests in DC
Now if they were J-6 protestors, it would be months in jail. Harris left town and didn't meet with Netanyahu. She was in Indianapolis with her Sorority Sisters.
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Faster than an assassin's bullet
You've got to give Democrats credit/blame for their head twirling, gaslighting blather. They/he/she/all of them. Now Trump is too old to run. He was traumatized, they gossip, by the assassin's bullet. After years of their/her/his lying to us about Biden! If Trump says anything about Kamala it's a racist, sexist attack, but it's still OK for them/her/him to call Trump a Nazi, white supremist, and threat to Democracy. As soon as they kicked Biden to the curb (when he was sick) for being old and forgetful, all the money came back. It was faster than a speeding bullet! That's their version of Democracy.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Kamala Harris' rise in politics
Since it will come up during the campaign, let's compare Harris' lucrative climb in politics via her boyfriend (twice her age) Willy Brown with Trump's relationship with Stormy Daniels. The devious (and Biden supported) Alvin Bragg managed to find 34 felonies within one misdemeanor; it was clearly election interference on Biden's part. Now if we had an investigative media (dream on), how many felonies could a clever prosecutor of the other party find in the payoff Harris took from Brown? And if the statute of limitations has run out--no problem. That was also the case for the Democrats v. Trump.
"Brown’s decision to appoint Harris raised eyebrows in political circles. “Both boards are reserved for political payback or occasionally for personal rewards for personal service,” said Brett Granlund, a former California Republican state assemblyman who worked closely with the commission while Harris was on the board. “The boards are considered plum appointments as they require no work, no policy credentials, and are paid the equivalent of a full-time [state] senator for arriving at a one- to two-hour meeting each month.”
"Brown’s decision to appoint Harris raised eyebrows in political circles. “Both boards are reserved for political payback or occasionally for personal rewards for personal service,” said Brett Granlund, a former California Republican state assemblyman who worked closely with the commission while Harris was on the board. “The boards are considered plum appointments as they require no work, no policy credentials, and are paid the equivalent of a full-time [state] senator for arriving at a one- to two-hour meeting each month.”
Cheatle resigns, but Heritage is on the job
The Heritage Oversight Project has been tracking phones connected to Crooks' workplace and home, coming up with some interesting facts. Let's see if the tardy investigative actions of the FBI and Secret Service ever get this far. This is an IMPORTANT read.
"A cell phone associated with the home and work addresses of would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks visited the Gallery Place building in Washington, D.C., that houses a mall and offices of the FBI, the Heritage Oversight Project reported July 22." https://www.theblaze.com/news/phone-associated-with-would-be-assassin-pinged-near-fbi-dc-offices-in-2023-report-says?
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned now, but Biden (if he's out there) should have fired her.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned now, but Biden (if he's out there) should have fired her.
The informed Democrat voter
In case any conservatives thought going up against Kamala would be a breeze, let me tell you about today's treadmill gossip. I had to move down the row a bit because a lot of the TVs weren't working, and I ended up next to 3 men (old guys, but younger than me). These guys were talking football--they knew the name of every coach, player and water boy. Then all of a sudden, one guy says, "What do you think of Kamala?" One other says, "Oh she's fine; I'll vote for her, but don't know anything about her," and the others chimed end with approval. Dumb jocks.
Monday, July 22, 2024
It's been a very long week
A long extended week from Saturday, July 13, to Sunday, July 21. From an assassination attempt to a coup; there's a lot of evil, corruption, denial, grifting, lying, disloyalty, DEI failure, hate, and gaslighting oozing and revealing to the world just how deep the swamp is. The Democrats are everything they accuse Trump of being.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Emily Jashinsky, voice of a conservative?
I've never been able to put my finger on it, but I just don't care for Emily Jashinsky, culture editor for The Federalist and occasional guest on Fox (I'm told). I think it's her whiney giggly voice. (I just looked her up and she's quite young--30, unmarried, no kids.)
For podcasts, voice quality is important to me. I heard her on the "UnHerd with Freddie Sayers" podcast evaluation of Trump's speech of Thursday. Yikes. She might as well have been on the View, a show I don't watch, but because they are such racists and haters one does see clips occasionally on other shows. She even doubted he needed the bandage. I wonder if she's ever had a part of her ear blown off, or even had skin cancer on her head or face and realized the danger of infection? The skin is the largest organ of our body, a protective shield against injury, and infection. The flesh on his ear prevents entry of bacteria and when it's gone--a bandage would cover the scab or prevent it from being bumped by an enthusiastic grandchild or fan. At least she didn't demand to see the medical records as one screechy leftist feminist on Demedia did. She didn't like the tribute to Corey Comperatore who was killed by one of the bullets some on the Left wished for Trump. Perhaps she would have preferred the full-scale riots and defund police parades that honored George Floyd? She said Trump was just being Trump and she didn't see any real change.
An air-head trying to get inside Trump's head and heart. She's called a "rising conservative voice," and she's just full of herself--something she accuses Trump of.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
The lies about Trump--NATO
One of the biggest lies the Democrats tell about Trump is that he wants to destroy NATO. So, paying your fair share (2% of GDP) is now being a Nazi? Hmm. Who is it that talks about "fair share" all the time? But what's crazy is Biden is now given credit for what Trump asked for!
"Just five years ago, there was still less than 10 allies that spent 2% of GDP on defense,” Stoltenberg said during remarks at The Wilson Center in Washington. “I can only now reveal that this year, more than 20 allies will spend at least 2% of GDP on defense.” (CNN, June 17, 2024)
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
The tale of 3 cities--Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum
Today's Gospel reading in Magnificat is the disturbing warning Jesus gives three cities, Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum (Matt. 11: 20-24). They not only had a long history of being God's special people, but they'd witnessed the Kingdom of God, Jesus performing his miracles, yet refused Him. We could read that Chicago, New York and LA, or the United States, Canada and Mexico, or Germany, England and France. All have been blessed over the years not just with material wealth, magnificent universities and stunning technological achievement, but the riches of knowing God's word, from parchment to podcast. And still, we don't repent and follow His ways. The events of the last several months, or even since 9-11 come to mind. God seems to be doing something remarkable right now, summer 2024. Trump may never be president again, but God has revealed through his efforts the soft underbelly of a very corrupt system that refuses to honor God and appreciate all His gifts.
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Trump's message to America after the shooting
President Trump's statement on Truth Social
"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
There's more, and I'm looking at various sites. I'm not on Truth Social so have to find it elsewhere.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M,” Trump said in a Truth Social post."
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he wrote.
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win. I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.” (New York Post)
The iconic photo of a bleeding, fist pumping, defiant Trump being swept off the stage by the Secret Service with the American flag against a bright blue sky waving above him will become famous, but a lot of the sources I've seen clip out the flag. Whether it was space, dislike for Trump or distain for the flag, we can only guess.
"I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
There's more, and I'm looking at various sites. I'm not on Truth Social so have to find it elsewhere.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else. Therefore, I will be leaving for Milwaukee, as scheduled, at 3:30 P.M,” Trump said in a Truth Social post."
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he wrote.
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win. I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.” (New York Post)
The iconic photo of a bleeding, fist pumping, defiant Trump being swept off the stage by the Secret Service with the American flag against a bright blue sky waving above him will become famous, but a lot of the sources I've seen clip out the flag. Whether it was space, dislike for Trump or distain for the flag, we can only guess.
A message from Pastor Turnbull--God holds the future
Our senior pastor, Steve Turnbull, sent this e-mail this afternoon addressing the assassination attempt on President Trump.
"First, as we prayed in our services this morning, let us be faithfully in prayer for President Trump, his staff and his family, and for the families of those killed, injured and traumatized in the attack. Let us also be praying for President Biden and all other candidates for office at our city, state and national level. What we witnessed brings home the danger these public servants put themselves in, and it is right for us to pray for their safety, and for comfort for them and loved ones who now face greater fear. And let’s be praying for our nation – for peace, kindness, and neighborliness even through this election cycle where differences of opinion are strong. This is a moment where we as a country can seek both repentance and healing. I'm certainly praying for this, and I invite you to join me.
That leads into the challenge I have for you: as a congregation, let us practice the love of our neighbors as a witness to a hurting world. Comfort and care for your friends, relatives and neighbors – maybe especially those with whom you disagree. Jesus has called us to love our neighbors, and our enemies, and we as believers ought to lead the way as the nation reckons with the dire consequences of hatred, division and violence. I challenge myself, first, and then you to be intentionally Christlike in your thoughts, actions, and online engagement in this election season ahead of us. Our neighbors need this from us.
Finally, I want to share with you a word of hope. Last night, we went to sleep in a world that felt very uncertain. This morning we woke up in the same world, but we gathered across the country and around the world to worship God who Scripture says, “holds all things together” (Col. 1:17). In Psalm 95, it says, “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.” While we may not know the future, or be able to control the outcome of historical events, our God can and does. He holds together this fragile, broken world, and he holds the future. "
Friday, July 12, 2024
Socialists become Communists or Fascists, F.A. Hayek, 1944
"No less significant is the intellectual history of many of the Nazi and Fascist leaders. Everyone who has watched the growth of these movements in Italy or in Germany has been struck by the number of leading men, from Mussolini downward (and not excluding Laval and Quisling), who began as socialists and ended as Fascists or Nazis. And what is true of the leaders is even more true of the rank and file of the movement. The relative ease with which a young communist could be converted into a Nazi or vice versa was generally known in Germany, best of all to the propagandists of the two parties. Many a university teacher during the 1930s has seen English and American students return from the Continent uncertain whether they were communists or Nazis and certain only that they hated Western liberal civilization."
"The Road to Serfdom; text and documents, The definitive edition," ed. by Bruce Caldwell, (The collected works of F.A. Hayek, vol 2) University of Chicago Press, c1944, c2007. pp. 80-81
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Pew Report January 2020 on incomes and prosperity
It must have hurt to have to say good things about the Trump economy or the nation in general in this Pew (left of center) Report, which came out in Jan 2020 before Trump halted some travel from China in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. (In hindsight lab leaked viruses laughed at those regulations, just like Pelosi did.) The report does take the long view going back decades to find slow growth and little change. But I did notice that the report noted the shrinking middle class--because people were moving up, not down.
"The unemployment rate in November 2019 was 3.5%, a level not seen since the 1960s."
". . . household incomes, which have rebounded in recent years."
"In 2018, the median income of U.S. households stood at $74,600. This was 49% higher than its level in 1970, when the median income was $50,200." (Incomes are expressed in 2018 dollars.)
"On balance, there was more movement up the income ladder than down the income ladder. [since 1970]"
"Since 1980, incomes have increased faster for the most affluent families – those in the top 5% – than for families in the income strata below them." (If you look at the inflation adjusted charts, this doesn't seem to be so, but if wealth creates wealth and there's been a huge increase in dual income families in the last 40 years, I would agree. In the long run, wealth transfers from the government from the middle class to the lower class may help consumption, but it doesn't build wealth to be passed along by generations.)
Several paragraphs in the report note the rising incomes of the upper income, without noting the disparity in marriage rates. Obviously a three person household of a single mother and two children, is going to be less than a three person household of a married mother, father and child. Income gaps between white and Asian households can usually be adjusted for marriage and number of family members. Childhood poverty can almost all be explained by the difference in marriage rates.
"The unemployment rate in November 2019 was 3.5%, a level not seen since the 1960s."
". . . household incomes, which have rebounded in recent years."
"In 2018, the median income of U.S. households stood at $74,600. This was 49% higher than its level in 1970, when the median income was $50,200." (Incomes are expressed in 2018 dollars.)
"On balance, there was more movement up the income ladder than down the income ladder. [since 1970]"
"Since 1980, incomes have increased faster for the most affluent families – those in the top 5% – than for families in the income strata below them." (If you look at the inflation adjusted charts, this doesn't seem to be so, but if wealth creates wealth and there's been a huge increase in dual income families in the last 40 years, I would agree. In the long run, wealth transfers from the government from the middle class to the lower class may help consumption, but it doesn't build wealth to be passed along by generations.)
Several paragraphs in the report note the rising incomes of the upper income, without noting the disparity in marriage rates. Obviously a three person household of a single mother and two children, is going to be less than a three person household of a married mother, father and child. Income gaps between white and Asian households can usually be adjusted for marriage and number of family members. Childhood poverty can almost all be explained by the difference in marriage rates.
Parkinson's Disease
I do a slow burn at the wealthy and powerful like Ari Emanuel who are now fuming about not knowing how weak and confused Joe Biden is (and was in 2020). These gazillionaires and their buddies control our lives through the people we "elect." The money and power they control we can't even imagine. I suspected Parkinson's 4 years ago, not because I'm a doctor, but because I know or knew so many people (at least 10) who have/had it. 80% men. There are many kinds and it can be misdiagnosed. The only time I saw emotion on Joe's face was when he'd get angry and start screaming incoherently at a friendly audience, name calling, dredging up old stories, forgetting decades and shouting like a demented person, or when he was eating ice cream shmoozing the kids. But Conservatives were demonized if it was mentioned. We'd been so beaten down with Covid cancellations, many just chose to keep quiet about what we saw.
Quick cookie recipe
Took a nap; woke up with the munchies. 1 pkg cake mix; 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil. 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Tuesday, July 09, 2024
Mary Roberts Rinehart on War
Joe Biden gave us a humiliating, disastrous withdrawal from one war, and has involved us in two others (by financing them). Let's not forget it was not just the debate that brought us to this point.
“War is not two great armies meeting in the clash and frenzy of battle. War is a boy being carried on a stretcher, looking up at God’s blue sky with bewildered eyes that are soon to close; war is a woman carrying a child that has been injured by a shell; war is spirited horses tied in burning buildings and waiting for death; war is the flower of a race, battered, hungry, bleeding, up to its knees in filthy water; war is an old woman burning a candle before the Mater Dolorsa for the son she has given.”
― Mary Rinehart, American writer
Project 2025
What is Project 2025 which has the Leftists pulling their hair in search of new catastrophic words to describe "white Christian nationalism?"
"With the Biden administration half over [January 2023] and with the immediate dangers inherent to one-party rule in Washington behind us for now, it’s past time to lay the groundwork for a White House more friendly to the right. For decades, as the left has continued its march through America’s institutions, conservatives have been outgunned and outmatched when it comes to the art of government.
One reason is because the Republican establishment never moved on from the 1980s. Beltway conservatives still prioritize supply-side economics and a bellicose foreign policy above all else. Belief in small government, strangely enough, has manifested itself in a belief among some conservatives that we should lead by example and not fill all political appointments. Belief in the primacy of the national security state has caused conservative administrations to defer political decisions to the generals and the intelligence community."
"With the Biden administration half over [January 2023] and with the immediate dangers inherent to one-party rule in Washington behind us for now, it’s past time to lay the groundwork for a White House more friendly to the right. For decades, as the left has continued its march through America’s institutions, conservatives have been outgunned and outmatched when it comes to the art of government.
One reason is because the Republican establishment never moved on from the 1980s. Beltway conservatives still prioritize supply-side economics and a bellicose foreign policy above all else. Belief in small government, strangely enough, has manifested itself in a belief among some conservatives that we should lead by example and not fill all political appointments. Belief in the primacy of the national security state has caused conservative administrations to defer political decisions to the generals and the intelligence community."
Monday, July 08, 2024
Joe Rogan on Joe Biden
Joe Rogan, a comedian and now famous podcaster, says in the 80s comedians used to do "Joe Biden nights" as comics, where each performer used someone else's acts. That's how famous he was THEN as a plagiarist. https://open.spotify.com/episode/67haCs3jEOu2mThrqzC3Gc So when Politico or NYT says Trump lies--think of Joe telling lies for over 45 years to the American people.
Saturday, July 06, 2024
Joe on gender, race and color
I think we can figure out what Biden was saying in Philadelphia a week after the debate: "By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president. Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court. There's so much that we can do because, look...we're the United States of America." (Try to diagram that sentence!)
Even though he claims in the interview at WURD to be a black woman and to be involved with a black woman (who couldn't define what a woman is), we know he is not a black lesbian. It's just good old Uncle Joe, the guy half of the electorate said they wanted back in 2020 to bring the country together.
But really folks, is it smart to be proud about another person's ethnicity and political decisions and skills? That's what he seems to be saying--Harris and Obama are nothing without me--I'm the big cheese. They only matter because of their skin color. I'm surprised he didn't tell the black radio hosts he only agreed to the interview because they are black. Back in 2020 when Harris was running for president in the primaries she called Democrats racists, and he seems to prove it.
Even though he claims in the interview at WURD to be a black woman and to be involved with a black woman (who couldn't define what a woman is), we know he is not a black lesbian. It's just good old Uncle Joe, the guy half of the electorate said they wanted back in 2020 to bring the country together.
But really folks, is it smart to be proud about another person's ethnicity and political decisions and skills? That's what he seems to be saying--Harris and Obama are nothing without me--I'm the big cheese. They only matter because of their skin color. I'm surprised he didn't tell the black radio hosts he only agreed to the interview because they are black. Back in 2020 when Harris was running for president in the primaries she called Democrats racists, and he seems to prove it.
The Democrat Party "democracy" they say we'll lose
Glenn Greenwald reminds us that the 2016 Democrat election (primaries) were rigged to favor Clinton over Sanders. In 2024 they had NO primaries--no voters had a choice. This is the "Democracy" the Democrats say we'll lose if Trump is elected. Power and money run the party, not the voters.
Friday, July 05, 2024
1967 and 1968 were scary in presidential politics
Today I was reminded of just how scary 1967 and 1968 were for our country--which put today's problems with Biden and 2 wars in perspective. Our children were born in 1967 and 1968 and this podcast reminded me of how helpless we felt. You want your kids to have a better life, but it all seemed to be crashing. Especially awful were the assassinations. If you were around then and have forgotten what a mess the Democrats (and the country) were in, take a listen to the podcast "Honestly." Bari Weiss is the founder of Free Press and main speaker on the Honestly podcast, but she has a guest host, Eli Lake, for this one. I'd forgotten how much LBJ and RFK hated each other, and the level of disruption the Chicago riots caused. Mr. Lake brings it all back with some of the interviews. Honestly with Bari Weiss: When a President Drops Out: What Biden Can Learn from 1968 on Apple Podcasts
From the transcript: "Today, Free Press writer Eli Lake hosts a special episode about what happened in 1968 when President Johnson decided he was not fit for reapplying for his job. He listened to his critics and backed away from the White House, allowing the Democrats an opportunity to stage an open convention to choose their next candidate for the presidency. But why did the party want him gone so badly? And how did this seismic decision work out? It’s a tale of murder, war, and riots that culminated in the most explosive convention in the history of America."
DEMOCRATIC_CONVENTION_1968_REEL_1_306-1424-r1.webm.720p.vp9
Thursday, July 04, 2024
America the Beautiful
"America the beautiful" by Katherine Bates composed on a trip to Colorado is so beautiful I thought I'd write something about it. It's been recorded by so many famous entertainers and bands--Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin, military bands to small town band concerts. Everything I've read would indicate it is public domain--but alas, even that is being argued and worked out in the courts. But I was certainly shocked to read in my morning devotions (Magnificat, July 2024) that the copyright is held by the Benedictine Nuns of the Abbey of St. Cecilia, Ryde, Isle of Wright, UK. That's either a big typo or perhaps applies to a particular recorded rendition. I'll check with the publisher.
"Amber Waves" is the title of a USDA magazine. The title is probably taken from that familiar tune. I used to collect first/premiere issues of magazines and have the first issue (in print). It still exists on line. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves.aspx
Wednesday, July 03, 2024
Latest, updated list of lies about President Trump
https://sharylattkisson.com/2024/06/50-media-mistakes-in-the-trump-era-the-definitive-list/?
The list is now at 160, but because they are so often repeated even after debunked, some people are hearing them for the first time. Like the bleach thing, and the "nice people" lie.
Dr. Zhivago and "The Secrets we Kept"
This is a terrible way to waste 15 minutes, but I've been researching the use of polystyrene foam as disposable coffee cups. I'm reading a spy novel ("The secrets we kept" by Lara Prescott). It's 1956 and the typing pool is gathered at the coffee shop (in Washington DC, and I don't yet know who the spies are but the latest fad in novels is to have bright young women save the West as spies). Here's the line that stopped me. "The Agency's own brew, though brown and hot, tasted more like the Styrofoam cups we drank it from."
Doesn't that sound like an anachronism to you? So of course, I looked it up. Not a lot of history (with dates) for polystyrofoam cups, but AI tried. Seems this environmental disaster was developed in 1954 and the foam cups created in 1957. Sometime in the 1960s they began to be used for disposable coffee cups, and 7-11 popularized them around 1964. The big use expansion of these cups was the 1970s and 80s. That's the bare bones, and right now if you're drinking disposably, it's probably a paper cup with a thin plastic coating (which may be leaching into your coffee), and the BIG advancement was in the development of the lids.
Back to the spies. This novel is built about Boris Pasternak's "Dr. Zhivago," and although I'm not sure I read it, I did see the movie several times. Also I took Russian in college and I can pronounce the names. The author's name is Lara, as was the love interest in Pasternak's novel.
Doesn't that sound like an anachronism to you? So of course, I looked it up. Not a lot of history (with dates) for polystyrofoam cups, but AI tried. Seems this environmental disaster was developed in 1954 and the foam cups created in 1957. Sometime in the 1960s they began to be used for disposable coffee cups, and 7-11 popularized them around 1964. The big use expansion of these cups was the 1970s and 80s. That's the bare bones, and right now if you're drinking disposably, it's probably a paper cup with a thin plastic coating (which may be leaching into your coffee), and the BIG advancement was in the development of the lids.
Back to the spies. This novel is built about Boris Pasternak's "Dr. Zhivago," and although I'm not sure I read it, I did see the movie several times. Also I took Russian in college and I can pronounce the names. The author's name is Lara, as was the love interest in Pasternak's novel.
https://youtu.be/WiWWa-T0EIY?si=e22chGIuSSxQafZX Lara's Theme
Tuesday, July 02, 2024
Presidential immunity
I think Democrats should be thrilled with the clarification of presidential immunity by SCOTUS. Both Obama and Biden have serious crimes that could come back to haunt them. But Democrats are so damaged by their hate for Trump they think anything in the Constitution they don't support is about Trump.
The decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, established a broad new immunity from prosecution, not just for Trump, but for past and future presidents, too. Presidents may not be prosecuted for exercising their “core” constitutional powers, and even in situations where former presidents might be prosecuted after leaving office, they are entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for official actions they took as president.
Such immunity is needed, said the chief justice, in order to protect an “energetic,” and “independent executive,” willing to take “bold” actions and make unpopular decisions when needed. And while Roberts said that private actions by a former president are not protected from prosecution, his opinion seemed to inexorably intertwine private and public actions. Supreme Court says Trump has absolute immunity for core acts only : NPR
Monday, July 01, 2024
Angry Democrats upset about Presidential immunity
"The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive," the SCOTUS opinion said.
Democrats are angry and insane. President Trump has all the same rights that all presidents and all citizens had before the SCOTUS decision, yet they believe "Democracy" has failed under a "MAGA court." They don't see that SCOTUS has protected them! Think of all the angry, biased, crazy, befuddled things Biden has said and done in the last 4 years--they better hope he has immunity.
Democrats are angry and insane. President Trump has all the same rights that all presidents and all citizens had before the SCOTUS decision, yet they believe "Democracy" has failed under a "MAGA court." They don't see that SCOTUS has protected them! Think of all the angry, biased, crazy, befuddled things Biden has said and done in the last 4 years--they better hope he has immunity.
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