Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Bobby Jindal for President

Interview on 700 Club recently. He has a new book, too.


Gov. Bobby Jindal: Leading through Crisis - CBN.com
Uploaded by cbnonline. - Up-to-the minute news videos.

Again with the message? Now Pelosi

James Taranto notes: "The New York Times editorial board is displeased: "If Ms. Pelosi had been a more persuasive communicator, she could have batted away the ludicrous caricature of her painted by Republicans across the country as some kind of fur-hatted commissar jamming her diktats down the public's throat." So is the Times's Nate Silver, who notes understatedly that "Ms. Pelosi is not very popular with the American public.""

What the left doesn't get is that Pelosi, Reid and Obama communicated just fine. We didn't like what they were telling us!

P.S. to NYT: Nobody likes her. Not even the Democrats.

What else did Gore lie about? Everything.

I worked in the Agriculture Library in the 70s and 80s. I knew you just couldn't make the ethanol bio-fuel figures come out right. It was very hot research then, too. Too many inputs; especially water. And even 2-3 years ago, we were creating food shortages that caused riots in other countries.

Now Big Al has come clean. Sort of.

Gore: On second thought, I was just pandering to the farm vote on ethanol « Hot Air
    Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal.

    U.S. blending tax breaks for ethanol make it profitable for refiners to use the fuel even when it is more expensive than gasoline. The credits are up for renewal on Dec. 31.

    Total U.S. ethanol subsidies reached $7.7 billion last year according to the International Energy Industry, which said biofuels worldwide received more subsidies than any other form of renewable energy.

    "It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol," said Gore, speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored by Marfin Popular Bank.

U.S. corn ethanol was not a good policy-Gore | Energy & Oil | Reuters
Of course, the worst thing is that all the investments and venture capital that has gone up in global warming smoke and mirrors is not available to do something really good and worthwhile to restore the economy.

The Korean War back in the headlines

So North Korea shelled an island controlled by South Korea and they woke the President up to tell him. The Korean War started in 1950--60 years ago--before Obama was born. There was an Armistice (July 27, 1953), which got us out of it, but there was never a victory or a Peace Treaty, so the War goes on for Koreans to this day. But it has really taken a toll on North Koreans. A decade ago it was estimated that 3.5 million North Koreans had been deliberately starved to death by their own government. It's hard to say what that number would be now--but it's all a result of the Amistice we signed in 1953--leaving before the job was done. And many want us to do that in Afghanistan and Iraq. Winning a war is nasty stuff. Negotiating the ending and walking away is even nastier.

Monday, November 22, 2010

How many decibels at a rock concert?

Or in the ear buds of your i-pod? Rock music 150dB.

New research from Swiss scientists suggests that people living near airports exposed to high levels of noise from air crafts are at increased risk of dying of myocardial infarction. That's an average daily noise level of 60 decibels--and I suspect that's less than what the i-pod user is pumping into his/her ears 24/7. Constant noise. It's not just for deafness.

JAMA November 17, 2010, p. 2116

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Recipe for Cranberry Stuffing for Thanksgiving

Recipe for Cranberry Stuffing for Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving Day Recipe Ideas | eHow.com

I've got all the ingredients for this one! Looks really simple

Update: Made it according to her directions. You'd better find a way to sweeten the cranberries, or it is unedible. I served ours with syrup, then threw the rest out!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Will Jon Stewart show up in Wilmington to ridicule?

HuffPo last spring reported that Stewart was getting 50% of his material from Beck--not plagerism, but mocking him. Then in Beck's newsletter today it was noted that Stewart's program was 66% ridiculing Beck! Beck is keeping this man alive--he has no material without him.

Now Glenn Beck has announced he will travel to Wilmington, Ohio to do a show and to support a Christian ministry/food pantry there because in 2008 Wilmington lost its major employer (9,000 jobs) DHL. On his show tonight he interviewed Sugartree Ministries Director Allen Willoughby. Originally for the homeless and street people, Sugartree has a food pantry and accepts no government money, which must be a real challenge. Everyday the staff prays for the shelves to be filled. Every food pantry I know gets government grants to keep their doors open, same with after school snack programs and summer lunch programs that are run by churches. This prevents the ministry from being able to tell the story of Jesus and his saving work.

Beck isn't the only celebrity to show up to help Rachel Ray remodeled their kitchen. They are now serving 150-200 people 6 days a week.

Everyone knows that unemployment checks and food pantries aren't the answers to our economic problem--the government needs to get out of the way and allow businesses to thrive. In past recessions, new businesses sprung up; not so much this time. Regulations, energy requirements, insurance rates, and inability to get bank credit are stifling the small business man.

Maybe Jon could do something funny about that?

There's a college in Wilmington. My uncle J. Edwin Jay was the president from 1915-1927.

The cries for civility from Democrats

Where were these guys two years ago when Obama began blaming President Bush for all the ills of the world, when he was demeaning over half of the American people a few weeks ago during the campaign, when he traveled abroad bowing and scraping to foreign despots? How civil was he and his supporters in the press and Congress? Isn't he the one who said "I won" when asked about cooperation with Republicans?

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Jay Rockefeller wants to shut down your news sources

"I hunger for quality news. I’m tired of the right and the left. There’s a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to Fox and to MSNBC, “Out. Off. End. Goodbye.” It’d be a big favor to political discourse, our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and, more importantly, in their future."

Yes, I just bet that would really help political discourse a lot and getting work done in Congress. So what does he consider "quality?" Katie Couric's opinions and water carrying passing as news? WETA, D.C.’s public television and radio stations where his wife is CEO?

Obama signs order to reform faith-based office

"President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday (Nov. 17) that reforms the White House's faith-based office in a bid to improve transparency and clarify rules for religious groups that receive federal grants.

The nine-page order reflects numerous recommendations made more than six months ago by a blue-ribbon advisory council charged with streamlining and reforming the office created under former President George W. Bush."

This certainly bears watching. During the 2008 campaign, Obama alluded to "fair hiring" in faith based programs, taking some religious freedoms by strangling churches ability to preach the gospel through what was once a popular Bush I and Bush II program--the 1000 points of light and the office of faith based initiatives. In 2008 I wrote a number of blogs about the dangers churches were facing with the Faustian agreement to take government support and grant money for everything from food pantries to housing rehab in distressed neighborhoods to after prison work programs to immigrant resettlement. I thought he had launched it when in 2009 he had Georgetown University remove all religious symbols when he gave a speech, but he became so embroiled in the healthcare debacle and the financial industry problems, that he wasn't able to turn his attention to it until . . . after the Democrats lost the House in 2010.

Once churches take government money, the administrators of that program by law, law suit, regulation or political pressure can tell them
  1. who to hire
  2. pull their tax exempt status
  3. which in turn can destroy other funding
  4. can hold up building plans that need to pass code
  5. can deny the retirement plan set in place for employees
  6. can affect the Medicare and Medicaid funding for the nursing home the church might run
  7. can restrict the adoption agency supported by the church plan to only place children with married couples
  8. and most importantly, can dictate what is said from the pulpit on any topic deemed politically sensitive, like marriage, abortion, environment, health, stem-cell research, euthanasia, war, etc.
RNS: Obama signs order to reform faith-based office - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Ten years ago City Journal (Winter 2000) reported that Catholic Charities had lost its soul by promoting government programs rather than traditional church teaching, and the author tosses in Jews and Lutherans for good measure because their charitable acts had also been compromised. "Catholic Charities—and the same could be said about the Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies or the Lutheran Services in America—has become over the last three decades an arm of the welfare state, with 65 percent of its $2.3 billion annual budget now flowing from government sources and little that is explicitly religious, or even values-laden, about most of the services its 1,400 member agencies and 46,000 paid employees provide."

I believe if we are to fulfill the Great Commission, we'll have to disentangle ourselves from the federal and state government.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Saving the world, one cat at a time

Bandit

I often quote my mother who said, "I can't save the whole world, but I can save four acres." And she did, and she shared those acres with others by turning her family home into a peaceful, attractive retreat center. There are people in Powell, Ohio (northwest Columbus) who are saving the world one cat at a time at the Cozy Cat Cottage. What can you do to help. Of course, there's always money, but if you'd like a more fuzzy, hands on position, there are also volunteer jobs. I spend a lot of time on the internet so I might look into that good search click thing which provides CCC with benefits.

Mission Statement: Cozy Cat Cottage Adoption Center is a non-profit organization that provides refuge; aid and care for abandoned, injured, abused or lost cats and kittens. We refuse to euthanize cats or kittens simply because they are unwanted.

We are committed to the keep and care for these unwanted animals of all ages while attempting to find permanent, responsible, loving homes for each and every one of them.

We are dedicated to promoting respect and compassion for all animals through humane education and vigorously promoting spay and neutering to reduce, and eventually to eliminate the animal over population.


Right now this no kill facility can't accept any new residents, but if you are looking for a nice pet, perhaps one that's had a rough start in life, why not stop in at 62 Village Pointe Drive, Powell, Ohio 43065.

California's Destructive Green Jobs Lobby

"All the so-called "renewables" programs waste and desecrate the precious resource of arable land that feeds the world. Every dollar of new wages for green workers will result in several dollars of reduced pay and employment for the state's and the nation's other workers—and reduced revenues for the government."

George Gilder is just about the smartest guy I know. Read it. The Greenie's intent is to kill the economy. Their agenda long term has nothing to do with saving Planet Earth. Everyone should be environmentally responsible, including the lefists.

George Gilder: California's Destructive Green Jobs Lobby - WSJ.com

Human rights and the UN

"Saudi Arabia now has a seat on the women's board at the United Nations. That's right, a regime where it's illegal for women to drive or leave the house without being accompanied by a male guardian, where girls were pushed into a burning building because they were trying to flee without covering their 'obscene' female faces... will be a key player in the international effort to empower women.

. . . Chilean leftist Michelle Bachelet, who heads up UN Women, praised Sudan for its commitment to gender equality in her opening statement. Yes, Sudan, a genocidal state which uses mass rapes as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign. And it's already clear that the focus of UN Women isn't to promote gender equality, but to intervene in conflict areas. Which means the odds are excellent that UN Woman will be used to crank out an endless stream of condemnations of countries that fight Muslim terrorists, while cloaking those condemnations in the name of the rights of women in the affected areas. And the Saudis are perfectly positioned to guide UN Women down that road."

George W. Bush freed more women (from the Taliban) than Lincoln did slaves, but that's not enough for the left. Will American Communists point out the inconsistency of Saudis on the women's board? American leftists don't actually approve of Islamic law and codes anymore than they do Christian, however, they are useful comrades in bringing down the common capitalist enemy--The United States.

Sultan Knish a blog by Daniel Greenfield

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Eid al-Adha--no English class today

Today is an important holiday (3 days beginning last night) for Muslims. Just like our Easter gets overshadowed by Christmas, but is the more significant of the Christian holy days, so this one gets overshadowed by another Eid which follows Ramadan. Eid al-Adha commemorates Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael. That's a very different story than the one Jews and Christians see as the establishment of God's people Israel, the Jews, and in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

Good works and service with the poor are part of this holiday, so there will be no English conversation class today.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

ALA Banned Books Week Hoax

I just browsed through a very attractive on-line display of banned books at a college library website--NCSU--based on the ALA hoax. Yes, BBW, Banned books week is a hoax. You can get these books anywhere. What the ALA banned lie really means is someone complained about a book--it wasn't banned or burned. No American author in the USA was threatened--that's for Europe and the Middle East. We have the right to complain, too. We pay for our public libraries--should we be thrilled with every selection? Can we say, "Why so many Martha Stewart?" What about poor quality binding or illustrations? Is that OK to complain about? Or price? Or disrespect toward a race, gender or religion? Or new books on the occult outnumbering new titles for a religion a bit more common in the neighborhood, for instance, Christianity?

I complained about "Little Black Sambo" being read aloud to children (1970s) during story hour. Was told it was harmless. What about the not-selected, not-purchased books? After looking over the shelves, and finding more on the Amish than on Lutherans, I left a note that our Public Library's newest book on Lutherans was 40 years old. Then I sent a suggestion with author, title and ISBN. They bought it. Woot! One. And we may have the largest Lutheran church in Ohio in our community. If you complain or suggest, it's often "no demand" or "no money." Especially for conservative titles. So then it's off to the book store. Fewer requests are made; fewer people vote to pass tax increases to support libraries.

ALA | Banned Books Week

Don't Be Such a Wimp and don't try to be fair

Readers give the expert on finances advice on his parenting skills. And it's good--especially from the kids. I'd say throw out the word "fair" when parenting. It only creates jealousy. Plus it's a kid's weapon. What's fair for a social butterfly doesn't fit the geek, and what's fair for an A student without cracking a book won't work with one who hates school. My mother was a saint, but she put great stock in being "fair." What that meant was, if one of the four of us was really great at doing something, praise was soft pedaled because it wouldn't be fair to the others who didn't have that talent. We were all talented in different ways, and believe me, life isn't fair. If it were, everyone would have had my terrific mother!

The Readers' Advice: Don't Be Such a Wimp - WSJ.com

Her ears aren't pierced--big deal!

At her blog she wrote a very long entry about her non-pierced ears--longer than any of my stories about the government, about housing, about health, about family memories, about retirement, etc. And she got 46 comments. FORTY-SIX!!!

Well, I never had my ears pierced either, and probably couldn't write two sentences about it. So there. And yes, people have noticed. Comments anyone?

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Left Greeting Bookstore Release of Bush’s ‘Decision Points’

It may be awhile before your local library has more than one copy of Decision Points by President Bush, and at the bookstore you might find Bush shelved in unusual places. The solution, of course, is to complain both to the library, and the store manager. They are there to serve you.

Michelle Malkin » Left Greeting Bookstore Release of Bush’s ‘Decision Points’ With Level of Maturity You Might Expect

No dog in this fight

"To hear librarians tell it, video games are high-church, intellectual endeavors. Today, nearly 2,000 libraries across America will host National Gaming Day, a massive video game tournament and celebration." Daniel J. Flynn

The library as amusement park

"Only those who haven’t checked out a book in the new millennium would be surprised that the public library is now making video games available. The image of the urban public library as a citadel of culture and quietude shielding patrons from the noisy, dumbed-down, digital world outside has taken a hit in recent years. Anyone who has logged significant time at the library has noticed an environment at odds with what Andrew Carnegie had in mind when he bankrolled the construction of 2,811 libraries—roughly 1,000 more institutions than will be participating in National Gaming Day on Saturday. It’s not uncommon to see Internet porn on library computer consoles, and for those not satiated by simply looking, library bathrooms have become popular rendezvous points. Most conspicuously, the library has been transformed into an unofficial homeless shelter during those daytime hours when the official homeless shelter shuts its doors. Libraries have become comfortable hosting many activities unrelated to the life of the mind."

Governor-elect Scott Walker, Wisconsin

"Wisconsin Gov.-elect Scott Walker urged the federal government Tuesday to give up on high-speed rail and instead use the money to repair roads and bridges he said were "literally crumbling." "

I thought Obama promised ARRA funding would repair our crumbling infrastructure--it was supposed to be shovel ready funds, right? What happened? I saw a lot of torn up roads and streets in Ohio with those bright orange ARRA signs. In fact, it looked as though ARRA street repair was going to ruin every business in downtown Bucyrus!

I didn't know Wisconsin had elected a Republican--but he's strongly pro-life and small government, he's against rail boondoggles and embryonic stem cell research, so I guess that's what they've done.