An awful lot of people don’t read, they glance. Many don’t read well, they skim. They do know, however, what the words “gay president” under the photo of Barack Obama means even if after 12 years of public school they can’t pass a 4th grade reading test in Cleveland or Detroit. What were they thinking? Especially with that YouTube video that’s been going around for several years.
I’ve been reading about the bribe to keep Rev. Jeremiah Wright quiet during the 2008 campaign (although I personally think he enhanced Obama’s resume for many radicals) and now the contract for about $6 million that the Chicago medical center v.p. who offered the bribe got from the administration (Dr. Eric Whitaker) the same medical center that appointed Michelle to its board with a fat salary after Obama became senator, and I’m wondering how this is so different than the John Edwards scandal, taking money for his mistress that was intended for the campaign and lying that the baby was produced by a campaign staffer. A bribe is a bribe is a bribe.
Also, now that Newsweek has announced that we have a gay president and we know that some of the gay PACs were pressuring him to flip flop yet again (first he was for it when running for Senate, then against it when running for President, now he’s for it) and we know Axelrod was orchestrating first the “leaks” about his girlfriends before the gay support, then put Biden out there to test the waters of the west coast, then the eastern establishment, so Obama could do his graceful flip into that messy sludge, why is a “wide stance” in a men’s restroom rumor enough to get a Republican run out of office, when openly soliciting money from the gay demographic is supposed to be a strong reason to reelect the president for evolving to a position we all knew he held?
I know we’re supposed to believe campaigns today are just as down and dirty as the 18th century when sexuality rumors were standard fare, but I do think the Obama campaign has scraped the bottom of the smelly, rotting offal barrel. And all this to distract from an expanding war, weakened borders, and a flagging economy?
"Health-insurance companies must tell customers who get a premium rebate this summer that the check is the result of the Obama administration's health-care law, according to federal guidelines released Friday," The Wall Street Journal reports.
Having been a librarian, I developed a real fondness for acronyms of all kinds. I came across an unfamiliar one today, because, well, it’s not one I would need often, and even in the medical literature I can’t recall seeing it before: AFAI—age at first anal intercourse—and no surprise here, “There appears to be a strong link between AFAI and infection with HIV/STIs, as well as tendencies to engage in higher risk sexual behaviour.” Although for older baby boomers that age was 35, for Gen-Y it is 18. I would attribute that to the increasing acceptance, and even encouragement of gay sex, since this study was exclusively about gay men. And, my, how flippant the writers are about this, calling it a “sexual debut.”
http://sti.bmj.com/content/88/4/252.full
“Further education around safer sex practices that specifically targets gay-identified youth may also be required to ensure their sexual debut does not lead to poorer sexual health outcomes. “ As we’ve learned from the “safe sex” message given to school children, it actually encourages all sex, and is now increasingly called “safer sex” because there is no such thing as “safe sex.” There are always consequences, whether psychological, sociological, spiritual or biological.
"The Kresge Foundation, established with a $1.6 million endowment from K-Mart founder Sebastian Spering Kresge in 1924, has morphed into a $3 billion behemoth. Ideological giving has grown along with the foundation’s fortunes under the stewardship of former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Rip Rapson.Read the whole story.
The group gave approximately $9 million to Washington, D.C., organizations between 2003 and 2006 with nearly half that money going to the American Red Cross. Rapson took over in July 2006; between 2007 and 2011 Kresge gave $52 million to 68 organizations based in Washington, D.C. Nearly all of that money has gone to liberal groups, including lavish grants to the Center for American Progress, Tides Foundation, Sierra Club, and Progressive America Fund.
None of these political groups received funding from Kresge prior to 2007."
Marriage is and always has been heavily regulated by the state or even its precursor—the tribe. Why? Despite the fact that some couples are infertile, or never intend to have a family, or are too old to have children, the reason is the very existence of the state—stable families are beneficial to the state. For thousands of years marriage had very little to do with love or sex, and everything to do with stabilizing society. “The secular case against gay marriage,“ The Tech, Vol. 124, issue 5, Feb. 17, 2004, p. 5
“Some argue that the link between marriage and procreation is not as strong as it once was, and they are correct. Until recently, the primary purpose of marriage, in every society around the world, has been procreation. In the 20th century, Western societies have downplayed the procreative aspect of marriage, much to our detriment. As a result, the happiness of the parties to the marriage, rather than the good of the children or the social order, has become its primary end, with disastrous consequences. When married persons care more about themselves than their responsibilities to their children and society, they become more willing to abandon these responsibilities, leading to broken homes, a plummeting birthrate, and countless other social pathologies that have become rampant over the last 40 years. Homosexual marriage is not the cause for any of these pathologies, but it will exacerbate them, as the granting of marital benefits to a category of sexual relationships that are necessarily sterile can only widen the separation between marriage and procreation.
The biggest danger homosexual civil marriage presents is the enshrining into law the notion that sexual love, regardless of its fecundity, is the sole criterion for marriage. If the state must recognize a marriage of two men simply because they love one another, upon what basis can it deny marital recognition to a group of two men and three women, for example, or a sterile brother and sister who claim to love each other? Homosexual activists protest that they only want all couples treated equally. But why is sexual love between two people more worthy of state sanction than love between three, or five? When the purpose of marriage is procreation, the answer is obvious. If sexual love becomes the primary purpose, the restriction of marriage to couples loses its logical basis, leading to marital chaos. [There is an article about Johnny who loves his lunch...it's point is much in line with this paragraph. Where do you draw the line? ...] “
I’ve always been a CREATIONIST and I’ve always been PRO-LIFE. There were many years I didn’t know the HOW, but I’ve always understood the WHAT and WHO even as a very young child observing life around me (probably 3-4 years old). There were 25 years between my baptism in 1950 and my recommitment/confirmation when I let go of God’s hand, but I never let go of those two beliefs.
I’ve always known CREATION has a purpose and LIFE has meaning, even when I was taught otherwise in school or church. Whether Creation took 6 days or 6 billion trillion years, makes no difference in my belief; both are equally marvelous. Whether she is a is a zygote making a journey down a fallopian tube or a frail woman 105 years old in the nursing home bed who hasn’t spoken since she was 87 making a journey home to Jesus, I’ve always believed she is God’s creation and loved by God.
I’ve always known there was a rich and glorious life beyond what I could see, experience or understand, no matter if it was the vastness I saw in the night sky, or the pictures in the family encyclopedia with transparent drawings showing a baby’s development month by month in the womb. I’ve always been a wise old woman, even when I was a child.
I’ve always cared about and loved God’s physical world--and wondered about the events and choices that moved lives and nations. As a 5 year old I wondered why my grandmother was blind and my uncle was killed in the war. And I still don’t know, but I know God does. And until the past two decades or so, I thought caring was enough, because caring made me a “good” person. Caring made me better than people who didn’t care as much as I do. Caring elevated me above the hoi polloi, the commoners, the great unwashed who didn‘t believe as I do.
In brief moments of extreme self-love, I even imagined I was more merciful and caring than God because I knew better how life should be ordered and what made sense and what didn’t! At this age I know caring does nothing, so I will speak out when I am able to promote God‘s Creation and Life. You can argue about candidates or fossil fuel with me, both were put here by God, but you won’t budge me on Creation and Life.
Consequently, I won’t change what I believe about Man and Woman who were made in God’s image. Perhaps you are enamored by a current social or political movement and you care deeply and sincerely about this blip in time, but I care about history and the future. Next year, next decade, maybe you’ll move on to yet another political cause-- legalizing polygamy or incest perhaps renamed to remove the stigma--but I’ll still be where I started, loving and respecting God’s Creation and Life.
I believe God enjoys and delights in the sanctity of a life He created yesterday or 100 years ago. What I believe is not just who I am, but it is rooted outside myself in who God has revealed himself to be in his created Word spoken in the beginning, his written Word, in his Word Jesus Christ who came to us through the womb of a woman, in his Church on earth, and in all other forms of religions which don’t yet have his full revelation, but do grasp that Creation and Life are precious and holy.
Some Conservatives claim Obama was never vetted--like the lies he told about his father's Kennedy connection [Kennedys had nothing to do with his father coming to U.S. as a student] and the Selma speech on the campaign trail. His claim to be coming back to Selma is a bit odd since he was born 4 years before the Selma event. But it was all out there even in 2008--it is part of the fiction and mythology America elected. But no one cared--they voted for him anyway--lying wasn't a big whoop then or now. He also lied to his leftist supporters, and when gay donors began pressuring him, he got a new Christian revelation that he should support same sex marriage. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/29/AR2008032902031.html
“What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation. It worried folks in the White House who said, “You know, we're battling Communism. How are we going to win hearts and minds all across the world? If right here in our own country, John, we're not observing the ideals set fort in our Constitution, we might be accused of being hypocrites.” So the Kennedy’s decided we're going to do an air lift. We're going to go to Africa and start bringing young Africans over to this country and give them scholarships to study so they can learn what a wonderful country America is.
This young man named Barack Obama got one of those tickets and came over to this country. He met this woman whose great great-great-great-grandfather had owned slaves; but she had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided that we know that the world as it has been it might not be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama [4 years after he was born], because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I’m not coming home to Selma, Alabama.”
“Kate McCord is not her real name. To protect herself and the men and women she talked with, all of the names in this book have been changed. Though in the midst of a high-powered career, Kate left it all, sold everything, and went to Afghanistan to start a non-governmental organization with the goal of helping Afghan women. She taught herself the local language and served there for more than five years. Now she wants to you to know the Afghan men and women she has come to love.
Riveting and fast paced, In the Land of Blue Burqas depicts sharing the love and truth of Christ with women living in Afghanistan, which has been called "the world's most dangerous county in which to be born a women." These stories are honest and true and the harsh reality of their lives is not sugar-coated. These stories provide insight into how a Jesus-follower brought Jesus' teachings of the Kingdom of God to Afghanistan.”
From promotional material by Moody Publishing at Books and Culture.
I know people who were missionaries in Muslim countries, and they don’t hide their identities. I wonder what is so different about our “ally” that we’ve spent billions and blood on for the last 10 years?
Last night I attended a True the Vote webinar. Very exciting, challenging, but also depressing to see so much fraud and dishonesty taking place, stealing one of our most basic rights--the right to vote. The good news is that 80% of the polling places are fine. The bad news is the other 20% can steal your election and put the wrong people in the state houses, Congress or White House. There will be another training webinar on May 23; go to the website and register. If you are an honest, patriotic Democrat, consider this volunteer opportunity to help your country. This is bipartisan and national, but it has to be by state because that's how we vote. http://truethevote.org/about/
One of the best ways to create voter distrust, anger, confusion and fraud is to bring in outside organizations to register thousands and turn the registrations in the last week or day (in Ohio that will be the end of September) and overwhelm the county offices. This is a common tactic. Another is to have minimal penalties. We saw both methods here in Ohio in 2008—and about 6 months after the election a few “students” who had moved here from the N.E. and Europe to register voters received a hand slap and fine. By then they had left the state, so I don’t know if they ever paid the “penalty.” It only takes 50 votes per polling place to create a national “mandate” of 10 million votes.
Voter fraud in Ohio is just like voter fraud in your state—although it’s probably on a much bigger scale in Illinois because of Chicago. Our "two" reported cases this year (in the Columbus Dispatch) involved counties where there are thousands more registered voters than there are people of voting age. Liberals are fighting the clean up and saying it can be resolved locally. Our last Sec. of State, Brunner (D), did virtually nothing about the voter fraud in 2008, and our current guy, Husted (R) is being overly cautious turning it over to Eric Holder who will do nothing when it’s reported to him (every state is required by national law to have clean records) if the voters aren’t minorities (these are basically white counties).
The best way to clean up registration honest mistakes, careless errors and actual fraud is to make sure the county officials know that citizens are watching them, either as poll workers, poll watchers, or registration researchers. In Texas, when it became known that registrations were being checked for phony addresses and out of district voters by volunteers, they dropped from 1,000 a day to 50 during a campaign by an outside group brought in to register new voters. In Wisconsin’s “Verify the Recall” thousands of false signatures were discovered, but there were still enough to get the recall on the ballot. However, it sent a message to the unions that their days of intimidation were over.
Volunteers cannot remove any potential registration or voter -- that's the county officials' job. They can only report that there are 200 people living in empty lots, or 150 at the golf course, or 52 outside the district, things like that. It's up to the county to see to it that they legally do reside on a golf course, or an empty lot. At least 46 states are investigating voter fraud, but the departments are small, resources limited, and fines minimal. "If the elections are not truly fair. . . we are not truly free."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMBnTwQvjtc&feature=player_embedded#!
That was a question that Giant Eagle posted on Facebook today.
Interesting to think about because I get to remember what a wonderful cook my mom was. I'm not sure, but I’m guessing it was either beanie weenies (sliced hot dogs, a little butter, covered with canned baked beans, or a white sauce. I watched how she made pies, although I don’t think I made many while I was still at home. She was the best at pies, so there really was no point. Mom always overcooked the beef roast, however. Vegetables when we were growing up was from home canning. My dad was a bit fussy—he really didn’t want anyone’s cooking but hers.
When I graduated from college I was 21 and 5 months pregnant. I had other things on my mind than saving for retirement. . . like rent, food, graduate school, paying off the hospital and doctor bills (it was a pay as you go baby). I put it off until I was about 48 and the children were launched. Then I opened a tax deferred account through TIAA-CREF and started setting aside the maximum allowed. Since I didn’t go back to work full time until about that same time, I was really behind. If you’re starting out, don’t do what I did.
Here's how interest compounds over time: If you save $10 a day at age 25, you'll have more than $1 million by age 65, assuming an 8% annual rate of return. If you start at age 35, you'll have $445,000. At age 45, you'll only have $180,000.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577348052844503384.html
According to the New York Times, it’s the fault of the Republicans that Brown’s bill didn’t pass. Oh really? Well, read a bit further down in the article. “American students took out twice the value of student loans in 2011, about $112 billion, as they did a decade before, after adjusting for inflation. Over all, Americans now owe about $1 trillion in student loans. In 2010, such debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time.” The Republicans are trying to keep the economy afloat by not raising taxes on the people who create jobs.
Thirty seven million people currently have outstanding student loan debt. How did I get through college without loans? I worked during my high school years and had saved enough for my freshman year; my parents paid for years 2 and 3; my husband and I paid for my senior year. College costs are going up much faster than inflation primarily because the government floats so many loans.
“Republicans say they want to extend Democratic legislation passed in 2007 that temporarily reduced interest rates for low- and middle-income undergraduates who receive subsidized Stafford loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent. But the Republicans would not accept the Senate Democrats’ proposal to pay for a one-year extension by changing a law that allows some wealthy taxpayers to avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes by classifying their pay as dividends, not cash income.
“They want to raise taxes on people who are creating jobs when we are still recovering from the greatest recession since the Great Depression,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who instead wanted to pay for the rate decrease by eliminating a fund for preventive health care in Mr. Obama’s health care law. “
Evangelical Christian tribes people. Did you know you're being studied by an anthropologist? Yes, we are reachable by Democrats if they just learn our strange language and ways. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/do-as-i-do-not-as-i-say/
How condescending is this? "But the good news for secular liberals is that evangelicals are smarter and more varied than many liberals realize. I met doctors, scientists and professors at the churches where I studied. They cared about social justice. They cared about the poor." So says Tanya M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford
Imagine that! We're educated. We're professionals. And we actually care for the poor and weak instead of asking the government to do it!! And if secular liberals just say the right words evangelicals will fall for their line and stop obeying Jesus and fall in line with Rome.
She did her anthropological study of Christians at Vineyard churches, so possibly those Christians need to be on the watch for wolves dressed as sheep. “Their members tend to be white and middle class, although not exclusively. Their congregations are more likely to meet in gyms, not in actual church buildings, and like their surroundings they are informal. They are more likely to have a rock band than a choir, and they use contemporary Christian music rather than traditional hymns (although they may incorporate a hymn into the service). They call themselves “Bible based,” by which they mean that the Bible is taken to be literally or near literally true, and they embrace an experiential spirituality.” http://www.stanford.edu/dept/anthropology/cgi-bin/web/?q=system/files/absorption.pdf
After they took control of the Presidency (Grover Cleveland) and Congress in 1892, Democrats had complete control of the government for the first time since the Civil War. They passed the Repeal Act of 1894 that overturned civil rights legislation passed by the Republicans during the previous 25 years, including the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875. But even before the Civil War in the 1830s John Quincy Adams (member of several different parties which morphed into Republican) was a strong abolitionist, and he was consistently opposed by Democrats.
Jim Crow and the KKK were created by the Democrat Party, both north and south. It took Republicans nearly six decades to finally achieve passage of civil rights legislation in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965 were Republican sponsored bills and only got passed with the help of Republicans because so many Democrats voted against them. Democrats also opposed the 1972 Equal Opportunity Act. These were necessary to enforce the amendments passed by Republicans after the Civil War. And it was President Nixon who pushed for affirmative action laws and time table.
You didn't get the truth in your American history classes about black history. Now Democrats are using entitlements, scare tactics and empty slogans to keep blacks in their places.
http://www.suwanneegop.com/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter-2.pdf
http://dare2sayit.com/racist_history_of_the_democratic.htm
http://www.policyalmanac.org/culture/archive/affirmative_action_history.shtml
http://blackhistory.com/content/60916/13th-14th-and-15th-amendments
I think this group has been together for 34 years—I joined in the fall of 2000 when I retired. I read more on this year’s list than probably any other year. Didn’t care much for today’s selection, “Hold Up the Sky” by Patricia Sprinkle, but don’t let that stop you, most of the rest of the group loved it. For next year (begins in September just like school) at 1:30 p.m., except Panera meetings are at 2 p.m., our choices are:
1. September 10—No ordinary time by Goodwin, led by Patty, at Norma’s
2. October 1—How the Scots invented the modern world by Herman, led by Mary, at Mary Lou’s.
3. November 5—Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet by Ford, led by Peggy N. at Marcy’s.
4. December 3—Death comes to Pemberley by James, led by and hosted by Carolyn A.
5. January 7—Kim by Kipling, led by Jean at Panera’s
6. February 4--Sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Bradley, led by Justine at Panera’s
7. March 4—A secret gift by Gup, led by (not sure) at Panera’s
8. April --Girls from Ames by Zaslow, led by Adrienne, at Panera’s
9. May 6—Still Alice by Genova, led by Norma at Carolyn C.
Books that were recommended, but which did not make the cut were Bonhoeffer by Metaxas, There is no alternative by Berlinsky, Pigs have wings by Woodhouse, and God Vincent and the Poet.
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