Lutherans weren't worried about May 21

The secret rapture, where some people are snatched away and others left behind for a second chance, isn't familiar to most Lutherans (or really most Protestant groups), unless maybe they've joined a neighborhood Bible study outside their tradition. The "rapture" is when Jesus returns, the dead in Christ are raised and then immediately comes the judgement of the living and the dead and the reward. See Matthew 24-25. It is also described in 2 Peter:10, but what follows is what is important: "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness . . . so make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. . . "

So, although there were a lot of jokes about May 21 (like what did you pack for the trip), at least a few people probably stopped to think about whether they were ready. In God's economy, nothing is wasted.

Netanyahu, the anti-Obama

Nine months ago, George F. Will nailed it. He compared Netanyahu and Obama. . .

"Netanyahu, the former commando and fierce nationalist, and Barack Obama, the former professor and post-nationalist."

"Netanyahu, his focus firmly on Iran, honors Churchill because he did not flinch from facts about gathering storms. Obama returned to the British Embassy in Washington the bust of Churchill that was in the Oval Office when he got there."

George F. Will - Netanyahu, the anti-Obama

10 Tips For Downsizers With Too Much Stuff from Forbes Magazine

I did a little downsizing this week. Very little. It's tough to part with stuff! In putting away the laundry, I counted my husband's pj's--12--and eliminated 3. Found some lacy lingerie I'd never worn that went into the giveaway box, and some of my own pajamas that had moved from Champaign to Columbus in 1967--still looked good, but a bit smallish, so that went into the trash. Then I found a box with my mother's tablecloths. Wrong size, wrong colors, wrong era--I'll never use them--but they went back in the box. Too many memories. The entire New Testament on cassette tape went to the library sale along with dups from my magazine collection. I seem to have lost my little Walkman cassette player.

This Forbes article is mainly about selling; that's a hassle too, isn't it? In fact, it's against our condo rules to have a garage or yard sale, and I think for a tag sale you have to go off the grounds. Even carting off donations isn't easy--each place has its own rules and own drop off sites. I usually just take it to the church bins (if clothing) and let the sorters deal with it.

10 Tips For Downsizers With Too Much Stuff - Ashlea Ebeling - The Best Revenge - Forbes

But I did make headway on my magazine (first issue) collection, which if stacked would go floor to ceiling. We painted the upstairs hall and shelves earlier in the spring, and they all had to be moved. About 2/3 went into a wooden box, formerly the children's toy box from the late 1960s, then a box for old architectural drawings, then a box for old VHS tapes, and now the home of magazines tied up with ribbons by subject matter--life style, travel, minorities, animals, technology, wealth acquisition, women, families, children, cooking, and so forth.

This is what the hall shelving used to look like with my magazines leaning and lurching.

I had to wait about 2-3 weeks for the paint to really set before I could move anything back, but the new trim color really brightened the hall.

These colorful boxes only hold some of the magazines, most of which are now in the family room in the former toy/drawing/vhs box/coffee table. The color doesn't look very good because I took it with my cell phone which doesn't have a flash.

Mark Levin: Why does Obama hate Israel?

Listen to yesterday's audio.

Does Obama understand anything? The Turks controlled Palestine from 1291 to the end of WWI. Then the area was a British Mandate until 1948. They aren't Palestinians either. There were always Arabs there; there were always Jews there; there were always Christians (at least since the time of Christ). The Palestinian Arabs who live in Israel have it better than Palestinian Arabs who live any where else. No one wants them except for political clout and pawns to beat up on Israel.

You know, I don't doubt Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate, but I do doubt what planet he's from--he is an alien to everything that is American.

Obama's May 19 speech

The advisers, czars and minions of the Obama administration have skillfully placed dynamite in the cracks of our culture--a deteriorating, decaying hodge-podge of special interests, academicians lusting for government grants, rabble rousers of multiculturalism, diversity and feminism, greedy union thugs, weak churches of all denominations and sects, government controlled and regulated capitalist-cronyism, environmentalist green-pantheists, and voters who have become couch potatoes, slugs and voyeurs watching celebrities copulate and the obese, brides and dancers frolic on reality TV.

If there is a Jonah or Noah or Moses out there struggling with God about who he should send to warn, rescue or lead us, I hope God wins the argument, but it’s just possible He’s looked at this mess and said, "You’ve got just what you deserve," and this is the man I've chosen to blow up an interesting experiment.

President Obama’s Message To Israel: Go To Hell

Jewish donors warn Obama on Israel

Israel Expects Obama to Take Back ‘1967 Lines’ Demand - Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News

Column One: Obama’s war on Israel - JPost - Opinion - Columnists

Arkansas man first convicted under hate crime law

The wildly ridiculous act which will cause much mischief down the road, "The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act" which was tacked onto a military appropriations bill in 2009 and signed by President Obama has claimed its first headline--a 19 year old arrested for doing something that is always a crime, but somehow based on the color of the skin of the perp and the 5 targets, becomes a worse crime. I mean, a 19 year old Mexican American chasing and threatening 5 Mexicans wouldn't have been a hate crime and the U.S. Dept. of Justice would have ignored it. Same with blacks--even though most heinous crimes against minorities, particularly women, are committed by members of that ethnic or racial group.

Crimes against Euro-Americans because of their skin color will not be called "hate crimes," even though that too happens. The President can refer to business men as "fat cat bankers" or Boston police as "stupid" even though he should know from history the first conjures an image of rich Jews and the second the working class Irish. Be assured, he will not be charged with a hate crime, no matter how often he alludes to wealthy white people as being evil and encourages groups like ACORN or SEIU to threaten them with physical harm.

This act was H.B. 1913 when it passed the house in 2009, and included about 30 protected sexual proclivities as "life style choices," such as asphyxophilia - sexual gratification derived from activities that involve oxygen deprivation through hanging, strangulation, or other means; coprophilia - sexual arousal associated with feces; gerontosexuality - distinct preference for sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with an elderly partner; pedophilia - Sexual activity with a prepubescent child; urophilia - sexual arousal associated with urine, and maybe 25 others. I'm not sure all those got included in the appropriations bill.

Really, someone drunk in a bar could tell a really smarmy joke expecting to get a laugh about the ex-Governor of California and his Guatemalan mistress and someone might call the police because it was a hate crime--intended to hurt or lead to violence of a protected class--Hispanic mistresses. When bizarre expansions of federal control and power can't pass the smell test (or the House), they can slip in as an appropriation--like this one.

Arkansas man first convicted under hate crime law | Arkansas Blog

They could wait no longer

Yesterday a very wet, soggy landscape designer came to the door and introduced himself (I didn't recognize him) as the one we'd hired to cut, trim and replant our patio "garden." Rain or not, they had to do it. So here it is, with my new cheapy cell phone photo option I just learned to use today.

Looks like some azeala plants, a boxwood or two, the old dying evergreens were taken out, the stone wall rebuilt, some weeds pulled and mulch applied.

New Pro-Life Web Site Links Girl Scouts With Planned Parenthood

Oh no. Not the Girl Scouts! I guess as abortions started to drop off, PP needed to start recruiting.

New Pro-Life Web Site Links Girl Scouts With Planned Parenthood | LifeNews.com

Why some guys 40+ aren't married

Good essay, but this was in the comments:

. . . people who put a highest priority on family life tend to seek out opportunities to make a family for themselves as soon as possible, and this is especially true of women. A man who waits until he is 40 to start seriously looking for a wife has to contend with the fact that most of the women who make the best wives and mothers were looking for a mate sometime in their 20′s, and they’ve had ample time to find one.

Why I’m Glad I Haven’t Gotten Married….Yet | Right Wing News

More on the campaign trail--domestic energy

Perhaps totally uninformed voters might fall for this.

I am directing the Department of Interior to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, while respecting sensitive areas, and to speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid and south Atlantic. We plan to lease new areas in the Gulf of Mexico as well, and work to create new incentives for industry to develop their unused leases both on and offshore.

More holes than my 10 year old athletic socks.

» Meet Obama’s New Energy Plan, Same as The Old Plan - Big Government

Kind of makes me think of charging us $50 for the new "energy efficient" lightbulbs while taking the old ones off the market. How many presidents does it take to screw Americans for energy. Just one.

Pelosi's district getting health care waivers

And much more than their share. Isn't that strange? Such a large percentage of waivers go to one Congresswoman's district? I wonder how that happens?

Of the 204 new Obamacare waivers President Barack Obama’s administration approved in April, 38 are for fancy eateries, hip nightclubs and decadent hotels in House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Northern California district.

That’s in addition to the 27 new waivers for health care or drug companies and the 31 new union waivers Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services approved.

Pelosi’s district secured almost 20 percent of the latest issuance of waivers nationwide, and the companies that won them didn’t have much in common with companies throughout the rest of the country that have received Obamacare waivers.

Health Care Law | San Francisco | Nancy Pelosi | The Daily Caller

Not much of a celebrity watcher

Today was the first I'd heard of Arnold the RINO's love child by a 20 year staff member of the household. When I browsed through Google, I see Maria and he had had a rather public split--he's ego-driven, obsessed with power, yada, yada, and she's left behind, and so forth. Maybe so. But I hadn't heard anything--sitting here in rainy central Ohio, and rarely turning on the TV. But the nasty, nasty remarks people leave on celebrity websites are just amazing. Sicko comes to mind, actually.

Update: Friday: As more disgusting details roll out, even the media appears shocked. What is it now, Governors 4 and Golfers 1?

Two's enough

I've now sampled two of the cookies I'm supposed to take to our Spring farewell English conversation group this afternoon. It started out to be Snickerdoodles, then I noticed an option that used 4 oz. of cream cheese and a cup of dried cranberries, which I just happened to have on hand, so they morphed into that. Then for the last nine, I added about 1/3 cup of walnuts. Now I've tried one of each and have declared them suitable for people learning English.

Photo from Real Mom Kitchen, which also has the recipe.

Did You Know--Lancelot Andrewes

The overseer and key translator of the King James Version of the Bible which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year was Lancelot Andrewes, one of the most brilliant linguists that ever lived. He spoke 15 modern languages and 6 ancient and had a photographic memory. He was a man of intense piety and spent 5 hours every morning in prayer. From Christian History, Issue 100.

Glenn Beck plans Jersualem courage rally | The Jewish Chronicle

Glenn Beck is interviewing the Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat on his program tonight. (Between crime and terror, Jerusalem is safer than most American cities, Barkat says.) He's planning a rally similar to the 8-28 event, which was hugely successful, and comedians, unionists and politicians tried to imitate, but failed. They must be wetting themselves over this one.

Glenn Beck plans Jersualem courage rally | The Jewish Chronicle

Yesterday was Sunday: Where was your Commander-in-Chief?

"At any given moment Obama is either organizing, Alinsky'izing, or golfing." This President out does all his predecessors in finding ways to unwind and ignore what's going on in the world. Maybe he's tense? Not up to the job? Lazy? Scared? I read somewhere that the only bump he got for bumping off Osama, was with Democrat women! I thought they were behind him (on the golf course and basketball court) no matter what, cheering him on.

American Thinker Blog: Yesterday was Sunday: Where was your Commander-in-Chief?

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Today I began the morning with a 7 a.m. prayer time in the sanctuary, then church at 8:15 at Lytham Road, then over to Mill Run where I attended the 9:30 service, the coffee chat time with friends, then took dinner to my friend Eleanor who lives near by MR. Home then for a nap, and at 4 p.m. attended the spring concert by the choir and hand bell choir at Lytham Road.

Putting a stop to my student loan calls

Lately, we've been getting robo calls about student loans. We don't have any, of course. Neither one of us ever borrowed money from the federal government to attend college. In fact, the Department of Education didn't exist when we were in college--it's a boondoggle of a more recent era--Carter, I believe.

So I looked them up, but didn't find a way to send an e-mail without providing all sorts of personal information. These days you don't even know if a website is for real and might be stealing your information. So I phoned instead, and the first thing when I got through press one for English, and thank you for waiting all lines are busy now, was a request for my social security number and zip code, which I provided. Then the nice young lady told me I wasn't in her database. So I told her that was why I was calling. When I gave her my husband's name, she said it was him and not me they were trying to reach. I told her he was 73 and also had never had a college loan (have you noticed how college costs have increased with the availability of loans?)

So she assured me the calls would stop. I think there's an angry, stood up first wife trying to find this same guy who's delinquent on his student loan.

The price of pop corn

I finally saw The King's Speech at the $1 theater yesterday afternoon. What a terrific movie. But why is a small popcorn $5.25 if the ticket to get in is $1.50? So I passed on that treat. Didn't I read that theaters make more on food than on tickets?

Even at home I've gone to popping up a few tablespoons in a pan rather than doing the prepackaged in the microwave. Cheaper and fewer unknown, unpronounceable elements. It's the difference between a minute and 3 minutes.

So I asked Google--why does movie popcorn cost so much? And Stanford University has researched this:

Research from Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of California, Santa Cruz suggests that there is a method to theaters’ madness—and one that in fact benefits the viewing public. By charging high prices on concessions, exhibition houses are able to keep ticket prices lower, which allows more people to enjoy the silver-screen experience.

So I guess it's OK--I can enjoy a cheap movie because some people don't care if they pay $5-$7 for pop corn. It seems that the big buyers of popcorn will come to see anything--it's those of us who only go to the movies occasionally and are more discriminating about the movies, that refuse to pay those outrageous prices. Also, if I'd gone to the movie with a group, rather than alone, statistically, there was a better chance I'd buy food.

Who knew?

Also, some people don't care about the calories. Popcorn is really a low calorie snack, unless you eat a large movie container with butter, which racks up to about 1200 calories. The Nannies are urging labeling of buttered popcorn at movies, as though the general public can't tell it has more calories than carrot and celery sticks (which would make too much noise in a theater, betcha).

Anyway, a great move, and I'm glad I went, with or without popcorn. Go see it if you haven't. It's more fun in a theate than at home on the couch.

I love a bargain

This morning I visited the new Volunteers of America Thrift Store on Henderson Road. I found a nice t-shirt from Talbot's and in walking to the back of the store to look at books, I found a pair of slacks that matched the t-shirt (things are arranged by color in this store). The book I bought is Gutenberg's Gift by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Bryan Leister. But the "paper engineer" is Bruce Foster. Here's a video of him explaining the book process.