Higher education costs

Recently we purchased a 40" color TV for $325, 50 years after we paid $375 for our first color TV that required monthly service. The trade off is we now pay a monthly subscription cost to a cable company. In today's dollars that would be $2,752. 60 years ago I paid $1,000 for room, board, and tuition at a private Christian college, and it was about the same as the University of Illinois to which I transferred. Today that should be $7,338. At both institutions, those costs were in part subsidized either by donors, the church or the citizens of Illinois and I was expected to be a donor after graduation. Government regulations and interference have changed the cost of education. Big time. I don't see how Mike Lee's solution will change it, but it's important to know what has happened to put so many families in debt when their only solution seems to be to borrow more money from the government.  

"The Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act. This bill would allow states to create their own accreditation system for institutions that want to be eligible for federal financial aid dollars.
Each state could then be as open or closed to higher education innovation as they saw fit. They could even stick with their current regional accreditors if they chose to do so."

What's happened to the media? Prager U can tell U

How did we come to distrust and dislike the press/media when their importance is mentioned even in our constitution? There’s now no objectivity, news articles contain vast stretches of opinion, and that is overwhelmingly liberal because each journalist wants to make a name for herself with her colleagues. Social media have also had a huge affect, and sales are dropping.  After all, the USA is a capitalist country, a system that is virtually driving out poverty all over the globe; why advertise in a system that degrades you and your product? Someone referred to Washington Post as Washington Compost.  Close.  It's clearly a fish wrapper these days.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B0HV_GQut4

Prager University can undo years of misinformation in college

 Prager U videos are really great--they can teach in a few minutes what you won’t learn in a semester at a major university. In under 6 minutes, you can destroy years of academic misinformation with a Prager U video.

 What does Social Justice mean?  Basically, it’s redistribution of wealth.  That’s how the United Nations defines it. It’s a little like “Women’s Reproductive Health” is actually code for abortion anytime, for any reason. We need F.A. Hayek’s definition: he saw to the core of the issue--a pernicious philosophical claim to amass power for the state.  To the snowflake progressive, it means whatever they want it to mean.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtBvQj2k6xo

Why do feminists persist with this oppression myth and the gender gap lie?  Because victims make better followers.  The need a base for their power position and interviews in the media and promotion in academe.  Most workplace pay gaps vanish if  you control all points, like part time work, or choosing a lower paying specialty like pediatrics instead of brain surgery.  And why wouldn’t greedy capitalists choose women employees over men if they can get them for less? Repudiate the victim myth, ladies.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oqyrflOQFc 

The Judeo-Christian culture has greatly elevated the role and status of women compared to other religions and regions of the world.  Women are commodities in the view of many Muslims.  Which value system do we want in the West? Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an author and activist, ponders the question why American feminists refuse to see what’s happening and won’t offer Muslim women the freedom they have in the West.  They excuse the inexcusable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJkFQohIKNI

Oh my. How did the SJW let this slip by? Oklahoma is the Choctaw word for "red people." Maybe when they are finished destroying the history of a vanquished foe in city parks, they can hitch a ride west with their hate? If they keep going, eventually the SJW will have to dismantle the elementary schools and streets named Roosevelt, because FDR sent Italians, Germans and Japanese to camps and prisons in WWII. That's after they've destroyed all those elite universities founded by Christians like Yale, Harvard and Princeton.

Sweet little Baxter

It was 68 degrees at 7 a.m. so I've already had two walks in the air that won't get cooler. This may be the day we turn on the AC.  I stopped to talk to and pet a sweet neighbor dog that is dying, but still cheerful, also out for a short walk. We've known him since puppy hood and we remember the day they brought the little fluff ball home almost 13 years ago.  We will miss him. My husband was the dog walker for their football game days, so we've gotten to know him. He's had a great life--well loved, well traveled, and a faithful guard who barked at us when we came to "his" house.

Some people say their pet is "just like family."  Not me. But we can love them anyway--we can even love the neighbor's.  http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/05/2435-on-loving-our-pets-youre-going-to.html

Kathryn Heinzerling

I was sad to learn of the death of Kathy. We moved to Columbus 50 years ago and she was one of the first to befriend us in our Couples Circle 50 at First Community Church.  Her husband Bob, who died in 1989, was our dentist. We lived a few blocks apart, and back in the day when I was a stay at home Mom I used to walk over there with my kids in the baby stroller.

http://www.schoedinger.com/obituaries/Kathryn-Heinzerling/#!/Obituary

Note: Memorial service will be held at 11 AM on Friday, May 19, 2017 at First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43212, with a reception immediately following. Memorial contributions may be made to the Heinzerling Foundation, 1800 Heinzerling Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43223.

Larger babies higher intelligence

"The association between birth weight and intelligence is stable from young adulthood into midlife. These long-term cognitive consequences may imply that even small shifts in the distribution of birth size, in normal-sized infants as well, may have a large impact at the population level."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2017/05/13/your-childs-birth-certificate-might-hold-a-clue-about-his-or-her-brain-power/#19a08acd4bb0

Political correctness in 1994

I was still a Democrat in 1994 and didn't change my registration until 2000.  The evidence from 1994 is that the worm was starting to turn.  This is an excerpt from a 1994 letter to a friend.

"I've always enjoyed large compilations of information--encyclopedias, handbooks, etc., so when I saw the title The Oxford History of the American West (1994) on the new book shelf at the public library, I checked it out. The cover is a lovely realistic painting of mountains, cowboys, cattle--probably by a WPA artist. But inside. Oh my. Political Correctness reigns. There is not a kind, decent or pleasant word about "our" country, the one we know. It glorifies every ethnic group that ever made it to either shore, and vilifies anyone of European descent. Although the authors are somewhat puzzled about how to write about the Spaniards. After all, someone might realize that Spaniards (Hispanics) were also European. Some sections are so odd, it is almost comical--if this wasn't being taught in schools. For instance, the Indians knew how to treat animals, because although they killed them, ate them and skinned them, they respected them. I seriously doubt that made a difference to the animals. This is followed by a section on how the wives and slave women of the Indian men spent their lives tanning and preparing hides (not presented as a negative against Indian culture). Apparently, political correctness doesn't apply if women are abused within the culture of a maligned minority."

So that was 23 years ago--that's a lot of misinformed students, and it's only gotten worse.

Re-education camps

Last week I wrote about a professor who had refused to attend one of those reeducation events.  Today I received an e-mail ad for one of those diversity reeducation/mind control events. I won't link to it, but the words "white men" was in the title of the organization. Somehow they had twisted research to determine how much money is lost in bullying of LGBTQ in the tech industry. Big name companies were listed which have used their events according to the PR material.

I wonder if anyone ever asks how much money is lost in bullying overweight employees or older workers or skinny men who aren't athletic, or Christians who leave due to bad jokes and slurs or janitors who don't feel appreciated. The victim industry is huge. What group/minority has ever made personal advancement in employment, social life, politics or health by always being a victim? The ones who clean up are those with moral indignation asking for your money.

Should Sewing Be Taught to Children? Guest blogger Sally Perkins

I learned to sew in 4-H in the 1950s (my teacher /group leader was Mrs. Bechtold and of course, Mom helped), and my children learned the basics in a required home economics class in middle school in the early 1980s.  And now?  Let's have Sally, my guest blogger, tell us.

https://www.stitchandsew.net/category/blog/

The teaching of sewing was absolutely essential for previous generations who were clothed by their own handiwork. But in today’s consumer society, where clothes are throw-away items, the art of sewing has dropped off the ‘life skills’ list. However, the last few years has seen the image of sewing transformed in the US. No longer the domain of apron-clad grandmothers, the revived craft is being taken up by younger women seeking a form of creative self-expression. And as adults are taking up the hobby, so are their children, resulting in a surge in sewing classes and boom in sewing machine sales.

What are the benefits of learning to sew?

Sewing is an expensive hobby, considering the outlay on fabric and equipment. So is it really worth it? There are obvious practical benefits of teaching a child to sew. The life-long skill will save them from costly clothing repairs and alterations in the future if they are able to hem a new pair of pants and darn a favorite sweater. But there are many more developmental benefits to be gained:

• Help improve physical dexterity - Introducing hand sewing at an early age will help develop and mature finger dexterity and fine motor skills.
• Teach discipline and patience - Learning to sew demands listening and following instructions. And once the basics are taught, a child will need to follow through a project in a careful and disciplined manner. Threading a machine, reading a pattern and cutting out fabric are all tasks that demand precision, order and patience.
• Enhance math skills - The tasks of measuring, together with the addition and subtraction skills required when piecing fabric together, all help with the development of math skills.
• Encourage creative expression - Once a child has mastered the basics, sewing offers a valuable creative outlet. Your child can select their own fabric and thread, and create their own designs be it clothing, accessories or toys. This may be of particular value to children who find it difficult to express themselves through writing and speech.
• Build self-confidence and promote self-esteem - The satisfaction of completing a sewing project from start to finish will boost your child’s self-confidence and morale.

How do you teach your child to sew?

If you are a stitcher, share your skills with your child. Start with hand-sewing using non-fray fabric such as felt, then let them explore cottons and other materials. Introduce a sewing machine when you and they are ready and eager. Consider investing in a sewing machine with child-friendly features including large dials, good speed control and automatic needle threading. You’ll also find useful books on the market outlining simple first projects.

If you aren't a stitcher, don’t despair as many craft stores offer sewing classes for children. Usually lasting an hour a week, they should provide enough direction for your child to engage in a craft that will grow their self-confidence, inspire their creativity and, at the same time, give them a practical skill for life.

So, should sewing be taught to children? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’!

The poverty meme

"The global incidence of extreme poverty has gone down from almost 100% in the 19th century, to 10.7% in 2013. While this is a great achievement, there is absolutely no reason to be complacent: a poverty rate of 10.7% means a total poverty headcount of 746 million people." https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty/

This progress wasn't made with Communism or dictatorships or street demonstrations, and it won't continue by taxing wealthy countries more to fight a mythical climate problem when that money could be going to address poverty problems today instead of sea level in 10 decades. We should have learned from the Rachel Carson debacle which killed millions of African and Asian children with still no solution for malaria while trying to protect birds and insects.

There are genuinely hungry people in the world and the USA, but what has lifted most people out of hunger and poverty isn't government programs, but innovation, technology, creative use of fossil fuels, the green revolution in agriculture and entrepreneurship. Someone living below the "poverty line" in the USA today has more material luxuries than the wealthy of the 19th century. Refrigeration, indoor plumping, flush toilets, healthy food, education, health care, sanitation, even smart phones automobiles and computers. Yet, the SJW only care about the gap.

People do make bad choices--we eat too much, exercise too little, smoke, drink, and are promiscuous. Government isn't going to change that. That's the job of the church to address moral and spiritual failings. Read the definition of "food insecure." Hunger in the USA isn't even relevant and is a meaningless word. The number of people living in extreme poverty fell by more than 1 billion since 1990, from 1.85 billion in 1990 to 0.76 billion in 2013. On average, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined by 47 million every year since 1990 (or 130,000 every single day). Violent crime is also down dramatically since the Omnibus Crime Bill. Who is driving the narrative that this is an awful, horrid place in need of more government control? I can think of at least two. 1) Democrat party, 2) the media.

Monday Memories of Kindergarten and Alameda

I'm looking at my kindergarten photo from Webster Elementary school in Alameda, California. I used Google to see if it still exists, but it closed in 1958 having served the Webster Housing Project, opening in 1944. I assume that project was all military family housing. I remember it as a wonderful, racially mixed neighborhood with people from all over the country and many nationalities. Families came there uprooted with fathers off to strange lands.

Looking at the photo more closely I begin to see the differences (all white children in my class although there were blacks in the school) and memories come to mind of the families who were terribly poor. No lunch programs in those days, but we did get free milk which tasted wretched. Wonder what was in it, because I liked milk. The school was a one floor plan with canopies outside joining the buildings to shade the sidewalks.  There were African American and Filipino children in my school and I’d never seen either, being from rural Illinois. Recess was on concrete instead of grass. Right from the beginning I loved school, except nap time on little rugs we brought from home. How boring.

My earliest Christmas memory is 1944 in Alameda, California. Dad was in the Marines and Mother had driven across the country in our 1939 Ford with four small children and my Aunt Muriel to find housing, schools, new helpful neighbors, and what I thought was a very exciting life. My recollection is singing carols in the fog--recalling that it wasn't like Christmas in northern Illinois. The community got together at a school to sing carols. Money was so tight, but Mom did her best. Not sure what the gifts were, but one was a little white glass cat which I still have.

Strange that with so little and living in constant fear of attack, we were all united then. Material riches certainly did not bring Americans any peace, even if we did win that war.

Advancing technology vs. advancing age

Although I spend a lot of time reading, composing, listening to and watching programs and lectures on the computer, I’m a number of years behind on the technology—always have been since I got my first e-mail about 25 years ago. I’m so long at this I can remember when a colleague in TN asked the other Vet Med Librarians about 20 years ago to take a look at Google as a search engine, which was very new. Long before I had a blog I wrote several times a day on several Usenet groups, particularly one for writers. There were mean and nasty people then too, and trolls trying to destabilize the group and friendships. So the down side of social media goes way back.

But I took a HUGE leap forward yesterday. I looked at my little Mother’s Day package and wondered how my daughter could fit a new outfit into that! (Love it when she buys my clothes) But it was a Roku stick. Looking forward to new challenges. As I understand it (it's still in the box because I'll need her help in setting it up) anything I can watch on my computer I can now watch on TV, plus 4,500 other channels. Horror movies, old TV westerns, documentaries, fashion shows, religious programing. Then I can take the stick out and take it to the Lake and watch my stuff there.

"Roku devices are simple to set-up and easy-to-use. They come with a simple remote, and powerful features like Roku Search which makes it effortless to find what you want to watch. Roku devices give you access to 450,000+ movies and TV episodes from top free and paid channels, so you can stream almost anything: Roku How it Works "

Our son works in the automotive repair field, manages a shop for a major auto dealer, and for some time I've been dropping hints about how the automotive industry is changing. Good article in Atlantic about the Uber/Waymo (Google) wars, but it introduces the novice and elderly to the other players in the self-driving auto changes to come.  The author argues that self driving cars will probably change the world--fundamentally. "Mass adoption would create and destroy entire industries, alter the way people work and move through cities, and change the way those cities are designed and connected." Billions are at stake in personal profits. Big winners and losers.

Really nice day

Mother's Day. We had a wonderful worship at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church with Jeff Morlock preaching, and then back to our house for a nice surprise gift--a Roku stick. I'd like to explain what it is, but I don't know much about it except we'll be able to stream programs on our TV and then take the stick with us to the Lake house and use it there. Then it was off to J. Alexander's Redlands Grill in Worthington for a most delicious meal which included a piece of Key Lime Pie to bring home because I was too full. Lunch menu.

Malware alert

"So far, over 213,000 computers across 99 countries around the world have been infected, and the infection is still rising even hours after the kill switch was triggered by the 22-years-old British security researcher behind the twitter handle 'MalwareTech.'"

http://thehackernews.com/2017/05/wannacry-ransomware-cyber-attack.html

There is now a 2.0.