if you don’t join the union.
And then the union will send your dues to the Democratic Party.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Women have been finding ways to control their fertility since the beginning of time, but it’s a fairly new action for governments. In the early 20th century it was lauded as a way to control or eliminate minorities and poor people, and now it’s promoted as a way for women to be free to pursue careers or to not be burdened with raising a child. Communist countries and Nazi Germany excelled at this, although abortion, not contraception was the primary means to control population. For as long as they’ve been keeping track in the U.S., as the use of contraception goes up, so do abortions. You can probably figure out why. Contraception may be a health issue to the president, but it is a behavior issue for women. Also, the chemicals in contraceptives make a woman’s skin more susceptible to UV rays, and could make her a better candidate for skin cancer. Of course, a pill can’t protect a woman from an STD, but did you know it can actually make her uterus more susceptible by changing the uterine lining? The chemicals in contraceptives go through a woman into her urine and are flushed into our water system. The jury is still out on how that is affecting men. Keep in mind, any health problem that goes against prevailing political goals will be labeled a myth or at least will be downplayed.
http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v129/n12/full/jid2009168a.html
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Crinolines and camp
Yesterday at Lakeside (Civil War Week) we had a lecture on Crinolines, corsets and cravats. During the question and answer period, I discerned that there are some gray haired ladies who don’t remember the crinolines of the 1950s. As they stood up in their shorts and capri pants, they pondered the restrictions. I’m not sure how long those crinolines of the 1950s were in style—looking at photos of me in 1953, my dresses are hanging straight, but by 1955, I had a hoop with crinolines underneath, and by 1959 the chamise style with a baggy waist and straight skirt was all the rage. I can even remember playing softball in high school wearing crinolines; we just scooped up our skirts and ran like the devil for first base (I never got much further). When Priscilla and I went to camp on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin around 1956, we took dresses to wear to dinner, even though we were staying in log cabins. So I must have taken some crinolines to camp.
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What not to wear
Along with HGTV’s House hunting shows in foreign countries, TLC’s What Not to Wear is always a good time burner.
A campaign about Fluke and Akin
The wars are expanding while our soldiers still die in Afghanistan, Muslim extremists are replacing the "Arab Spring" Pelosi and Obama swooned over, our debt is ballooning to $16 trillion, our religious freedoms are being threatened by the HHS Mandate, the unemployment rate isn't budging after 42 months above 8%, we were suckered into a stimulus that failed and now he wants another one, Obamacare is the biggest middle class tax increase in history, our President is proud to be the "food stamp president," and the Democrats are trying to say don't look there, we've got bigger issues, contraception and rape? Fluke and Akin. Really?
Fat Cat at his right hand has very sticky fingers
Valerie Jarrett became a millionaire after serving only three years as a Commissioner for Planning and Development in Chicago under Mayor Richard Daley. In just the past few years she has acquired an 11 percent interest in the $100 million Kingsbury Plaza, a 46-story luxury apartment complex developed by Habitat Company her landing pad after leaving the Planning Commission. . .
Obama’s executive orders show a disorder
I think Richard Nixon had one executive order to circumvent our representative form of government (Congress) and Obama has had over 900. They started increasing under Clinton, GW Bush ran with it exceeding most of our living presidents, and then Obama just went crazy. He has a "We can't wait" campaign. Now it's the ports.
That's how he got around the stalled DREAM act and went for DACA. Anyone fooled by the roll out right before the election? Only Democrats and minorities. I don't think he was born in Kenya, but I suspect a banana republic that has known only dictators. You don't need to be a college student or even have a GED for DACA--"currently enrolled" also includes an education, literacy, or vocational training schools, and education program leading to a GED!!!
Educators at any level getting more paybacks as well as pulling in more Hispanic voters. It’s a 2-fer.
Hillary Clinton’s assistant
Huma Abedin served for a dozen years as the assistant editor of the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, publication of which was the main business of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs. Both the institute and the journal were founded by Abdullah Omar Naseef, a wealthy and influential Saudi academic who became a financier of the al Qaeda terror network as well as the secretary-general of Muslim World League – one of the most significant joint ventures of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Saudi government in terms of spreading Islamic supremacist ideology. Naseef recruited Huma Abedin’s parents to run the journal when it started in the late seventies, and it has been an Abedin family venture since that time, with Naseef remaining closely involved.
So why is it Islamophobia to ask questions about a woman with close ties to the U.S. government’s secrets?
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/jamie-glazov/huma-abedin-islamist-connections-and-willful-blindness/
Stimulus funds spent to promote Obama plans
Payback in politics certainly isn't unique to Obama's team. Obama’s use of stimulus funds is being questioned—stimulus funds for his media buddies. And who watches MSNBC? Not very many. For a President who complains about fat cats, half a million is no big deal. But for one who promised things would be different, yes, it is the Chicago way. I did check out the PR firm. Some reporters who formed a company in the late 80s. Al Gore was an early client.
"Spending reports under the federal Recovery Act show $495,000 paid to McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations LLC, which the Labor Department hired to raise awareness “among employers and influencers about the [Job Corps] program’s existing and new training initiatives in high growth and environmentally friendly career areas” as well as spreading the word to prospective Job Corps enrollees.
The firm ultimately negotiated ad buys for “two approved spots” airing 14 times per week for two months on “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” and “The Rachel Maddow Show,” according to a project report, which listed the number zero under a section of the report asking how many jobs had been created through the stimulus contract. David Williams, president of the nonprofit watchdog Taxpayers Protection Alliance, called the contract “questionable” because it created no jobs and because of the placement of the ads on shows viewed as friendly to the administration’s policies.
Read more: Labor Department spends stimulus funds for ads during Olbermann, Maddow shows - Washington Times
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Dragging women back to the 50s—the Obama ad
The woman in the ad looks terrified. Romney wants to drag women back to the 1950s. I remember the years before 1973. Abortion was not a political issue; it wasn’t even a religious issue. It was a non-issue because as a nation we believed the pre-born deserved a chance at life, that life began at conception (all the medical texts said so), and that life was good. But in 1973 the Supreme Court decided Americans had a new right, one that had never existed before—a right to abort a living being from the womb. We’ve been thrown into a moral morass far worse than the battle against slavery, and which involves many more millions, particularly blacks who are targeted in billboards and clinic placements.
The big issue in the ad is contraception, but we know that it will heat up to include abortion—as will the insurance clause which will eventually be free abortions included in all insurance plans. Sandra Fluke and friends won’t stop with contraception. This is the evil empire of our era.
Twenty years ago the Republicans had a very clear pro-life plank in their platform. “The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. . . the party affirms our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution.” CNN suggests this is the draft for 2012. It only seems to come up in election years.
"Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," the draft platform declares. "We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."
The party will also reaffirm its opposition to federally-funded stem cell research and demand that the government "should not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage."
But even 20 years ago, Republican feminists and liberal Christians were urging a “big tent” on this moral issue, and Republicans have lost ground (I wasn’t a Republican in 1992, but I was a pro-life Democrat who have also been marginalized). zMany Republicans are/ were willing to accept this huge evil in order to win at politics. Pathetic. So we can’t blame the Democrats if the old or current platforms have fallen into disuse.
Toss a few olives in that summer or Greek salad
- Dozens of health-protective nutrients have been identified in olives, and recent studies have taken a very close look at olive varieties, olive processing, and changes that take place in olive nutrients. The overall conclusion from these studies is exciting for anyone who loves olives of all varieties. Greek-style black olives, Spanish-style green olives, Kalamata-style olives, and many different methods of olive preparation provide us with valuable amounts of many different antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients. While there are trade-offs that occur during olive ripening and olive curing - for example, decreased oleuropein with advanced stages of ripening yet increased amounts of anthocyanins - it's impossible to rule out any single type of olive as being unworthy of consideration as a uniquely health-supportive food, particularly in terms of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
- Hydroxytyrosol, an olive phytonutrient that has long been linked to cancer prevention, is now regarded as having the potential to help us prevent bone loss as well. Several recent laboratory animal studies have found increased depositing of calcium in bone and decreased loss of total bone mass following consumption of this olive phytonutrient (as well as oleuropein, another key phytonutrient found in olives). These findings are fascinating, since consumption of a Mediterranean Diet has long been associated with decreased risk of osteoporosis, and olives often find themselves on center stage in Mediterranean Diet studies.
- In traditional herbal medicine practices, preparations from olives and olive leaves have often been used in treatment of inflammatory problems, including allergy-related inflammation. New research may help explain how olives work to provide us with anti-inflammatory benefits, especially during circumstances involving allergy. Olive extracts have now been shown to function as anti-histamines at a cellular level. By blocking special histamine receptors (called H1 receptors), unique components in olive extracts may help to lessen a cell's histamine response. Because histamine is a molecule that can get overproduced in allergy-related conditions and can be a key player in the inflammatory process, it's likely that the anti-inflammatory benefits we get from olives involve this anti-histamine pathway. It's also possible that olives may have a special role to play as part of an overall anti-allergenic diet.
From today’s newsletter The World’s Healthiest Foods
Monday, August 20, 2012
Veep choices
Biden is so weak he makes Obama look good. Ryan has wonderful strengths to balance some of Romney's weaknesses. So which presidential candidate is more secure?
The Obama economy—he owns it now, no more blame game
Until Obama came along, Bush was probably the all time big spender on social programs, not that it got him any love from the left. But Obama long ago piled up bills enough for several presidencies.
Still, I can’t imagine George W. Bush whining and complaining and pouting like Obama has done for 4 years.
Monday Memories of the summer of 2012
From my son’s garden
Jalapeño jelly
pints of salsa
And there’s more on the way.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Hindsight is always 20-20
“On July 27, 2000, a first-term Congressman [Paul Ryan] from Wisconsin signed his name to the Housing Finance Regulatory Improvement Act. The 30-year-old legislator didn't have much company. Of 435 Members of the House, only 12 were willing to join Paul Ryan in sponsoring a bill to reduce the taxpayer risks at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Eight years later to the day, a federal bailout of the two mortgage giants was on its way to the desk of President George W. Bush. Almost $190 billion in taxpayer financing later, the toxic twins of the housing crisis maintain their massive role in mortgage finance.
On Friday, the U.S. Treasury said it is relieving the two government-sponsored enterprises of the requirement to pay regular dividends to taxpayers. Instead, the toxic twins will simply pass to the feds any profits they make. Fan and Fred's investment portfolios will also have to shrink more quickly, which is very good. But the deal suggests that they will continue to slap taxpayer-backed guarantees on mortgage bonds forever, or until there's a reformer in the White House.”.
Obama and Biden who were in the Senate in the mid-2000s did nothing, but later complain about the mess they inherited. I looked through v.1 of the testimony in 2000 and see Maxine Waters was quite hostile to the idea of reforming or restricting F&F.
The left is math challenged
“There's absolutely no use trying to explain to these crusaders for justice that Romney pays 13 percent because 1.) He reduces his taxable income with millions in charitable donations, and 2.) His income derives primarily from capital gains on investments, which are taxed at a lower rate than income from a paycheck.
Investment income gets a tax break because the government wants people to invest. Investment creates jobs, spurs development, expands the economy and ultimately reaps greater tax revenues.
When George W. Bush lowered the capital gains tax to its current 15 percent rate from 20 percent, revenue from the tax soared over the next three years and helped the nation avoid the severe economic downturns that easily could have followed the 9/11 terrorist attack, the Iraq War or Hurricane Katrina.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120819/OPINION03/208190307#ixzz2413So8vZ
I reduce my tax burden because of charitable donations—although that’s not why I donate, and because I’m retired, some of my income comes from capital gains investments. Should I have these “loopholes” but not rich guys like Romney and Obama and Buffett? How much do you want to hurt retirees by raising capital gains taxes? How much more money do you want to chase out of the country? I also have other loopholes that some poor people don’t have, like real estate taxes. Some poor people don’t even have the opportunity to pay taxes so they can claim these deductions, but I’ll leave it to you to decide if that is fair.
Obama calls the bail out a success
because he expected the tax payers to lose much more. and he kept the unions happy.
“In a monthly report sent to Congress on Friday, the Obama administration boosted its forecast of expected losses by more than $3.3 billion to almost $25.1 billion, up from $21.7 billion in the last quarterly update.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120813/AUTO01/208130392#ixzz24123vaYe
Unfortunately, he’s so pleased with it he wants to continue buying up other industries.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Fact checking the fact checkers
A biased "fact checker." Who knew?
People, especially conservatives, hate it when I use Snopes, but I’ve always found them (a husband and wife team) to be pretty accurate. Not so all of them. " . . . media fact checkers aren't going to be surprised by this, but Media Trackers, a nonpartisan watchdog, combed through the personal Twitter feed of PolitiFact Ohio writer Tom Feran and found he's a pretty vocal liberal. You can review the evidence here, but it turns out that he's not a fan of George W. Bush, refers to conservatives as "wingnuts" and "yahoos," and tweets out links to blog postings on the "The Cancer of Conservatism." On the other hand, Feran is an enthusiastic Obama supporter—"Go-bama!"—and supporter of Occupy Wall Street." Shocked. Not. [Weekly Standard Blog]
The Mustang, 1964 1/2
Down memory lane. As we drove to the near by Tri-Motor air museum today, on the way at a stop sign we admired an early Mustang lovingly restored and both agreed it was about the prettiest car ever (although not particularly comfortable) except for the 55-56 Chevy, to which I'm partial. Technically, there is no such car as a 1964 1/2, it was called that because it came out early, or late, I suppose depending on your viewpoint We began reminiscing about my brother's--I think it was red--a first year model. When babies started to arrive, it wasn't a good family car. Bet he wishes he had it now.
Tri-Motor Heritage Museum in Port Clinton
Today we visited the newly opened Ford Tri-Motor heritage museum near Port Clinton on Oak Lake Drive. A very impressive building which speaks of history and risk, and not the fame of the architect. There are not many displays, yet, but I’m sure that will grow, and the Ford Tri-Motor being restored is in a number of large pieces. While there we enjoyed an art show sponsored by the Greater Port Clinton Area Arts Council. I bought a very nice small bowl in soft greens and blues, just perfect for the lake house from Colin Budd who summers on Catawba and winters in Oracle, AZ, and a note card from Julie Faetanini, of Sandusky, which I’ll probably never use because it’s too nice. Looking forward to the opening of the Tin Goose Diner which is in the building.
http://www.colinbudd.com/page2.html
I can’t find any text to got with these photos, but they are interesting. http://www.putinbayphotos.com/TriMotor8407/TriMotor8407.htm
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