What you can do in Logan, Ohio--and it's free

Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum - Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm; Sun 11am to 5pm; Rev. Paul Johnson began his collection over 20 years ago. His Pencil Sharpener Museum, previously located at his home, has been moved to the Welcome Center and is open daily. This amazing collection of over 3400 pencil sharpeners has been featured in national magazines and is reputed to be the largest collection in the United States. Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, 13178 St. Rt. 664 S, Logan; 740-385-9706; FREE

Bishop John Bradosky speaks at the prayer breakfast

Today all across the nation people met to pray. Our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, hosted 2 events, a breakfast at the Mill Run campus and a noon worship at Lytham Road, our original church building where we attend the 8:15 traditional service. I attended the breakfast and Bishop Bradosky of the North American Lutheran Church hit it out of the ball park. He gave a fantastic review of religion in America--the role of the Great Awakening, the beliefs of the founders, how the United States form of government is different than all others, that 94% of the founding documents were based on the Bible, that clergy and pastors had a huge role throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, including the founding of such important universities as Harvard and Columbia, that "separation of church and state" was intended to protect the church from being harrassed by the state, not the other way around by keeping the church out of the public square, and that the change needs to begin not in the White House, or the state house, or the court house, but in the house of God! Wow. We were speechless. He even suggested that we all take a course on the Constitution!! We met in the fellowship hall where on Sundays there are 2 services, so I guess you could say this is the first time in my life I've ever heard a sermon about religion in America from the pulpit of a church where I was a member.

Ohio Liberty Council calls for investigation of Occupiers in Ohio

Press Release Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio Liberty Council (OLC), reacted to the failed terrorist attack in Cleveland, by calling for a full investigation by the media and law enforcement officials throughout the state, of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ohio Liberty Council President, Tom Zawistowski, said, "The evidence is clear that the Cleveland terrorists were active members of the Occupy Movement in Cleveland. A movement that, in April, held "training camps" for activists in Ohio at which media reports indicate attendees were trained to "create havoc and disruptions" and to "create gridlock". Our organization provided documentation to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in April indicating that it was likely that the Occupy Movement would be orchestrating violence in Ohio before this year's elections, including plans to attack TEA Party groups throughout Ohio."

Zawistowski went on to say, "We believe that the Occupy Movement is being funded by the UAW and the SEIU and is being managed by groups like Progress Ohio. These groups may be encouraging this type of criminal activity by the type of people they are recruiting and the training they are providing. Reports indicate that their goal is to create civil unrest and to intimidate citizens and groups who oppose their big government agenda. The media and our law enforcement agencies have been way behind the curve on this activity and they need to start taking this threat seriously before someone gets killed."

Sample of solicitation for “spring training” by MoveOn.org and other progressive and leftist organizations to encourage the type of violence we saw yesterday.  And yesterday was just a training exercise for disrupting the election in the fall.

“Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the fight for workers in Madison, Wisconsin, the 99% will rise up this spring. In the span of just one week, from April 9-15, 100,000 people will be trained to tell the story of what happened to our economy, learn the history of non-violent direct action, and use that knowledge to take action on our own campaigns to win change.”

http://moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=268

Americans blind to our moral problems

Now Planned Parenthood is in court demanding tax money to kill even more minority and poor children. http://www.startribune.com/nation/149525735.html  If you’re contributing to PP, here’s the results: black children are aborted at 5 times the rate as white children and Hispanic children don't fare much better.  You can talk all you want about women’s right to choose, but the fact remains, the abortion industry disproportionately selects black babies for death.

The only president ever endorsed by Planned Parenthood is Barack Obama, our first black president, whose mother was an unmarried teen-ager (father was a polygamist and already married back in Kenya). 

Abortion is our era's "Jews of Germany" moral dilemma of the 1930s and 1940s, and the 19th century outlawing US slavery problem. The difference being only in the number killed.

Why May 1 isn’t about the working man, and is only a Communist holiday

Ilya Somin, a libertarian who writes at FaceBook and at Volokh Conspiracy, a law/libertarian blog comments on  May 1, which although originally about “labor” is now an international celebration lauding communism, which killed 70-100 million people in the 20th century.

“1) all of the labor wrongs in the entire history of the US don't compare in scale to the evils of communism, and 2) many of the alleged wrongs (including bad working conditions) were primarily the result of the fact that the US at the time was a poor country by modern standards. Almost everyone in 1900 had bad working conditions compared to today. The solution to those problems was and is economic growth.”

EVERYTHING I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM NOAH'S ARK [Author Anonymous]

All seems to be advice conservatives planning for November 2012 need to learn. . . particularly #11.  (The site I checked said the Author is Anonymous, but usually he’s out there somewhere waiting to sue someone for copyright infringement.)

1. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
2. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big.
3. Don't listen to critics -- do what has to be done.
4. Build on the high ground.
5. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
6. Two heads are better than one.
7. Speed isn't always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.
8. If you can't fight or flee -- float!
9. Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth.
10. Don't forget that we're all in the same boat.
11. When the doo-doo gets really deep, don't sit there and complain-- shovel!
12. Stay below deck during the storm.
13. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
14. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side.
15. Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE are often a bigger threat than the storm outside.
16. Don't miss the boat.
17. No matter how bleak it looks, there's always a rainbow on the other side.

Obamanopoly

“CIA drone missiles hit militant targets in Pakistan on Sunday for the first time in a month, as the United States ignored the Pakistani government’s insistence that such attacks end as a condition for normalized relations between the two perpetually uneasy allies.” Washington Post .

And right in the middle of negotiations. Sure wish we could find all those war protestors who used to hang out on the intersections of Columbus. They’re probably too busy campaigning for Obama. At least Bush got approval from Congress. Obama doesn’t even ask.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-drone-strikes-resume-in-pakistan-action-may-complicate-vital-negotiations/2012/04/29/gIQAIprqpT_story.html

And speaking of campaigning for Obama, which actually began January 2009 for November 2012. Did you see the photos of the White House Correspondents dinner—you know the one—for the post racial President? He’s so post racial that it seems black folks were hard to find for this event. I looked carefully at a photo that seemed to show several hundred people at table, and could only spot one person of color. Maybe the wait staff were black? Or, maybe he sat all the black people together, or up front?

Will the Left let Mitt feed them waffles and syrup?

Rolling Stone interviews Barack Obama who has been campaigning since January 2009 for the November 2012 election. How many ways to count the waffles: 1) it’s complicated; 2) I’ve made it clear; 3) it’s very important to me; 4) It’s important to understand yada yada.  Dribble on the syrup: 1) It’s a matter of heart; 2) fairness and justice; 3) “scared and concerned.”

Obama on race: “My view on race has always been that it’s complicated. It’s not just a matter of head—it’s a matter of heart. It’s about interactions. What happens in the workplace, in schools, on sports fields, and through music and culture shapes racial attitudes as much as any legislation that’s passed.”

On gay marriage: “I’m not going to make news in this publication. I’ve made clear that the issue of fairness and justice and equality for the LGBT community is very important to me.  . . “

On Keystone Pipeline:  “(I)t’s important to understand that Canada is going to be moving forward with tar sands, regardless of what we do. That’s their national policy, they’re pursuing it…The reason that Keystone got so much attention is not because that particular pipeline is a make-or-break issue for climate change, but because those who have looked at the science of climate change are scared and concerned about a general lack of sufficient movement to deal with the problem… “  Interview with Rolling Stone.

5th Global University Summit

I looked through the program web page and could find nothing substantive, certainly nothing about escalating student tuition in conjunction with increased government loans, which I think should be on the agenda. But at least it is honest about how heavily higher education depends on government support.

University presidents from around the world will gather in Chicago, Illinois, from April 29 to May 1, 2012, for the 5th Global University Summit.This Summit brings together leadership of major research universities and industry from across the world to deliberate upon critical issues facing higher education globally in the 21^st Century. The theme for 2012 is “Developing Talent to Drive Innovation in a Global Society.”  OSU Today

“Higher education depends heavily on government support in every country. Therefore, Global University Summits are always held in conjunction with the G8 Summit to draw the attention of world leaders to the needs of higher education and its vital role in helping us deal with the challenges of the present and the future. The 2012 G8 Summit will take place at Camp David from May 20 to May 21, 2012.”  “About” Summit web site

Why college costs keep going up

I didn’t have any college loans to pay off (except to my parents) when I graduated from college in 1961.  And I had that paid off within a year since I was only expected to pay back what I borrowed after I was a “grown up,” married woman, or one semester. For graduate school I had an assistantship.

Federal financial aid is a major source of revenue for colleges and universities, and aid packages are generally based on the gap between what a family can afford to pay to send a student to a given college, and the tuition and fees charged by that college. That gives schools every incentive to keep their tuition unaffordable. Why would they reduce their sticker price to a level more families could afford, when doing so would mean kissing millions of government dollars goodbye?

http://www.jeffjacoby.com/11618/the-government-college-money-pit

 

And yes, I went to college 50 years ago, but look at the cost increases in the last 20 years. Or go to any campus and look at the plush, lush buildings.

RPAC at Ohio State, Recreation and Physical Activity Center. When I was in college it was called "walk to classes."

Dolly was on fire for Jesus!

They announced in church today that Dolly Denman had died. Oh my! Heaven is in for some fun, bright colors and singing. Until a few months ago when she was diagnosed with cancer she was singing in the UALC choir and another community choir. She was no longer driving, but Curt and Barbara, her neighbors, brought her to church faithfully. It doesn't seem all that long ago I remember her riding her bike to church--which probably wasn't safe even for a teen-ager let alone a senior citizen considering the distance and busy route. I figure her death has freed up the angels that must have stopped traffic or sat on the fender guiding her. Dolly and her husband Chuck who died a few years ago were so enthusiastic about Marriage Encounter they must have brought hundreds into the movement back in the 1980s. Their Christmas letters were worthy of the archives. We'll see you later, old friend.

DENMAN Dolly Denman has completed her journey through this mortal life and stepped into eternity with Jesus. Remaining are daughter, Diana; sister, Sandy; nephews, nieces, and friends. Memorial service May 14, 10 a.m., Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, 2300 Lytham Road.

Jimmy Obama? No way!

Perhaps you've seen the YouTube of Carter and Obama morphing. It's called Jimmy Obama. I voted for Carter twice and Clinton once. When the abortion issue for me pushed everything else aside (both of those men claimed to be personally against abortion, but did nothing to move their party’s support for killing the unborn) I changed party registration in 2000 so I could vote in the primary—about the only place it matters. By then I could also see that there was never “enough” in a Democrat plan, that growing a bloated government was their solution to every moral and economic ill. I could see the failures of the “War on Poverty”—that it had built an empire of well paid government workers and dependent citizens.

That said, I consider both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton giants of patriotism and Christian values compared to the moral midget and teleprompter flubster now in office. It’s breath taking how far we’ve come, how low our country has sunk, in less than 4 years. The middle east wars have expanded into Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and Syria, the lobbyists are constant guests at the White House, ARRA went AWOL at our expense, banks and corporations that should have been allowed to fail have been bailed out, "tax the rich for fairness" plan is named after a billionaire who owes over a billion in back taxes, the unions make the labor regulations, the next bubble (student loans) continues to expand ready to explode, FLOTUS uses the taxpayers as her personal credit line for lavish vacations, scandals like pustules on a horny adolescent’s face are popping in the Secret Service, a national health insurance plan that over 70% of the people don’t want is being implemented weekly even as 26 states have taken it to the Supreme Court.

If Mitt Romney is elected, and he wasn’t my first choice because he is not a Conservative, I expect at least a short term boom in the economy just from business owners being able to breath easier, and fewer people looking over their shoulder for the government busy bodies. It is a thriving economy that helps the low income, that best educates the children, that pays off the student loan, that puts people into their own homes, that assures the immigrant he can start a company like Google and become a billionaire.

I heard it on the radio

Heard on Catholic radio (820 am Columbus, Ohio)  this morning (no source given): "The third largest religious group in America is "fallen away" Catholics." In fourth spot must be "fallen away" Protestants (Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutheran, Brethren). Maybe they're all just trading places?

Also I heard an interview with Theresa Flores, 46, of Powell, Ohio, who “serves on a state human trafficking commission, has testified before the General Assembly, and been heavily involved in educating the public about the seamy sex-trafficking business that often preys on vulnerable young women and immigrants. She is one of the founders of Gracehaven, an organization set to open one of the state's first shelters for female human-trafficking victims.” (from Columbus Dispatch).

I heard her speak  about how this form of slavery is tracked, about the national political conventions coming up, and Groupon which sells coupons for sex slavery.

Happy Birthday President Grant

Happy Birthday President U.S. Grant. Ulysses S. Grant, who led the Union Army during the final year of the Civil War and was our 18th President, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on this day. As President, Grant stated: "It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation, a grateful acknowledgement should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country."

You can visit his home in Galena, Illinois, and also enjoy a tour of a lovely river town. There is a contemporary play "American Wake" by Bruce J. Robinson about the death of Grant who had been writing his memoirs to be published by Mark Twain.

The story follows the impact that Grant's loss had on the lives of Mark Twain (the editor of Grant's autobiography and his biggest fan), General William Tecumseh Sherman (Grant's best friend) and Arthur Dubois (an African-American Civil War veteran).

The play takes place in New York City on August 6, 1885, the night before Grant is to be buried. It opens on a private alcove in the plush Lotos Club.

Dining are the sardonic, brilliant Twain and the imperious, volcanic and equally clever Sherman. All evening, the old and close friends battle to define and claim Grant's legacy.

Waiting on the two is Arthur, the only fully-invented character and a conduit to one of the play's main concerns - and, in the eyes of the playwright, America's central tragedy - racism.

Cafeteria Catholics are everywhere

         

“The University of Notre Dame has invited Dr. Thomas Quinn–who facilitates family planning and condom distribution projects at the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health–to deliver a commencement address next month,” Patrick Reilly, the president of the Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic educational watchdog  group  explained. “Moreover, Quinn will be honored as Notre Dame’s Distinguished Alumnus for 2012, apparently in violation of the U.S. bishops’ ban on such honors — and just when our bishops are fighting the Obama administration to preserve Catholic universities’ right to uphold Catholic teaching on contraceptives.”

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/04/27/catholic-colleges-notre-dame-honoring-abortion-advocates/ 

http://blog.cardinalnewmansociety.org/2012/04/25/notre-dame-commencement-speaker-aids-partnership-at-odds-with-vatican-bishops/

Friday Family Photo--Haiti Mission

Boarding the plane after a long delay in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. Better to have problems on the ground than in the air!

The classes he's teaching this week are perspective drawing and they get to make a model. This is the model he constructed there which is one of the classroom buildings not yet built (no money) which he designed a few years ago. Each tiny piece was cut out here at home and carefully packed into the suitcase.

The accomodations for the volunteers are nice--much better than what the people of Haiti or even the mission staff have. It's sort of like a camp--they have a dorm and working toilets and showers plus very good food. This mission group's purpose was to build up the tech support so it involved a computer team. Equipment was sent down ahead. My husband doesn't even do e-mail, but he went along and did after school classes in art. These photos came via Facebook from the team leader, Gary.

Here he is at work in Haiti during his last architecture class of the week, Friday. From their hands, I'm guessing they are working on perspective. On Friday the kids get to wear school t-shirts, but M-Th they are dressed up and the teachers too.

Update April 29: Home safe, and on time. He says it was the best mission ever! But I think he says that every year. Monday's teaching day was lost because of the delayed flight into Cap Hatian, but the rest went well. He was teaching 4 classes a day, plus one day filled in for a teacher who didn't show up (very common in the public schools but very rare in the Christian schools).

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1897

It’s Friday.  Count your blessings!

Oatman wrote over 5,000 gospel hymns, but supported himself in insurance and retail while being a Methodist pastor.

Where does the money go?

In 2010, the federal government spent 61% of its finances on housing and community services, welfare and social services, recreation and culture, health, education, retirement benefits, disability benefits and unemployment benefits. This amounts to 2,124 billion dollars or $19,316/household. "Government Current Expenditures by Function, Table 3.16." U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Sept. 14, 2011.

http://www.justfacts.com/socialspending.basics.asp

Some call it racist to call attention to this

Crucify them

It’s inappropriate language, but at least he’s telling the truth. He’ll probably be sent to reeducation camp so that he can learn to be more obfuscating in explaining EPA’s methods.

“A video surfaced on Wednesday showing a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency comparing his agency’s philosophy with respect to regulation of oil and gas companies to brutal tactics employed by the ancient Roman army to intimidate its foes into submission.

EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement,” said EPA’s Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz, is “kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: they’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them.”

“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz added.

His comments are indicative of the “EPA’s war on fossil fuels,” claimed Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) in a news release on Wednesday.”

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/25/video-epa-official-compares-agency-enforcement-to-roman-crucifictions/