The very rich and the poor love Obama

He’s their sugar daddy. You've got to love it when the "experts" complain that growth is slow because of greedy corporations only investing for the short term, and CEOs making buckets of money by laying off workers. Who do they blame?  Republicans, not Obama who has kept the economy at its miserable growth level by his policies and burdensome regulations. Are the rich getting richer? Oh yes, they love Obama.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/07/31/reasons-americas-slow-economic-growth/

“The real reason American corporations aren't investing is that the folks who control and run them have become so selfish and greedy that they are focused on only one thing: Maximizing short-term profitability.
When the folks who control and run American corporations get together to set future goals, for example, they don't agree to, say, hire and invest heavily for the next several years in order to produce higher earnings and stock prices 5-10 years from now. In a business and investment culture ruled by annual bonuses and quarterly earnings reports, 5-10 years from now is so far into the future that it's barely worth considering. Instead, the folks who control and run American corporations set annual bonus and quarterly earnings targets designed to maximize profits and stock prices today.
In a period in which economic growth is weak (because corporations aren't investing), the way to hit annual profit targets and get those bonuses is to "increase efficiency." And "increasing efficiency," everyone knows, is usually just a synonym for cutting costs, firing employees, and scrimping on investment.
So big American corporations are maximizing their profits and letting mountains of cash build up on their balance sheets while, in the process, starving the economy and their employees of cash that would otherwise turbo-charge consumer spending and economic growth.”

If Obama won’t do what is right for the economy, why should American corporations help him drag us down?  I’d invest short term too, if I had a corporation.

The brown bag lunch is now off limits

I see that a major city, Seattle maybe, has expanded the politically correct no-no’s used in official announcements to “brown bag.”  That’s because back in the 40’s and 50’s there were clubs and establishments that had a skin tone rule—no darker than a brown bag—for African Americans.  Never mind that this was in the black community. 

I do remember this brown bag rule. In the 1970s my husband and I were part of a racially mixed couples club.  Five black couples, five white couples and membership was rather fluid.  The blacks in the group were socially and economically above most of the whites, as I recall—a judge, a dentist, a pharmacist, a businessman, civil service, teachers.  Yes, we were going to change the world through friendship and fair housing laws.  I remember one black couple complaining there were no other black families in their neighborhood.  “I thought you white folks all moved out when we moved in,” he joked.  As it turned out, and remains so today, most black churches, social clubs and businesses were all on the east side of Columbus, and most of the white couples lived either in Worthington (north) or Upper Arlington (northwest) and really didn’t have much appeal for black families with children.

One year we decided to have a holiday season dance and each couple would invite a few friends, we’d bring food, and hire a combo.  Even with friends, that’s a small group, but one of the black couples was a member of a private social club, and able to get that facility—I think it was perhaps a former bar or restaurant.  Not very fancy, but better than what the rest of us had to offer. Ed, the member who was very dark, told me that in the 1950s he wouldn’t have been accepted for membership because of the “brown bag” rule.  I thought perhaps that was local to our area, but if Seattle had it, and still remembers it in 2013, I guess not.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/07/31/political-correctness-brown-bag-citizens-are-out/

“Citizen” is also on the chopping block—might offend illegals.  Before you know it, “worker” will make the list.

How to make/take money from white fans

Rachel Jeantel, Trayvon Martin’s friend from Miami, has clarified the used of "nigga" on national TV, so it must be OK for Obama's BFF to use the word to make millions from white fans who are clueless. She also explained to gullible Piers that when Trayvon attacked Zimmerman, it was just “whoop ass” and he wasn’t going to kill him. 

Summer is going quickly

The homosexual agenda in Presbyterian denominations—guest blog

What Norma says about church numbers declining is largely true - with the exception of some non-mainline churches that are conservative and are not subject to a large bureaucracy at their denominational headquarters. Southern Baptists lost members for the first time this past year! The Assemblies of God (if I'm not mistaken) are not losing members. My denomination, the PCA, has had one year when it lost members - two years ago. There has been a mass exodus from many of the 'mainline' denominations - largely for the same reasons people and churches are bailing out of the ELCA. [Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, created in 1988 with the merger of 3 synods, the former synod with which UALC was affiliated.]  A homosexual agenda - both in regard to ordination issues and marriage. Though I am not in a mainline denomination - not affiliated with the National Council of Churches or World Council of Churches--I am somewhat familiar with the mainline Presbyterians.

The past five years they have seen a significant number of churches leave for smaller, more conservative Presbyterian bodies - not the one I belong to as it is too conservative for them (on women's issues mostly). A new denomination in Presbyterianism was formed just last year called "ECO" (Evangelical Covenant Order). These were mainly large metropolitan churches across the nation who were tired of fighting the bureaucracy on homosexuality. In 1981, the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) began out of dissatisfaction with the then Northern Presbyterian Church (it no longer exists as in 1983, they merged with the Southern Presbyterian Church). A few years ago it was about 40,000 members. It has more than doubled in size from the last couple of years - and the reason?  PCUSA churches unhappy about the developments with regard to homosexual marriage and ordination. The EPC is now the third largest Presbyterian body in North America - still just a fraction (as is the PCA) of the mainline Presbyterians - but those folks are hemorrhaging members and will continue to do so as they put forward that radical homosexual agenda.

[guest blogger is a pastor in PCA]

About those fast food wage protests . . ..

Why do you think they are pushing for $10/hour minimum for fast food workers, rather than say $15? Well, they need to keep it low enough to continue to qualify for Medicaid, EITC, SNAP, WIC, housing, school lunches and snacks and summer meals for the children, etc., which could bring their disposable income to levels higher than their managers. There are people who turn down higher paid jobs rather than lose important benefits, especially those with chronic health problems. I know a manager who recently lost a $10/hour employee to a $9/hour job at another firm.  He couldn’t afford a pay raise to $12.50.

 

Overnight Oatmeal

I doubt that my husband will ever give up his cooked oatmeal with raisins, but this looked interesting. Obviously more expensive than regular oatmeal.

OVERNIGHT OATMEAL

INGREDIENTS
1 container (6 oz) Greek yogurt, any flavor
1/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup fruit

Instructions:
In container with tight-fitting cover, mix yogurt and uncooked oats. Stir in desired fruit.

Cover; refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 3 days before eating.

The Green Room makeover

You won’t appreciate this since I don’t have a photo of what it looked like before.  This is where I attend lectures in Lakeside.  Sometimes they are in Orchestra Hall (the movie theater), but usually in this room. It is now called The Chautauqua Room.  It is in the Fountain Inn. Today’s lecture in the morning was on research and advancements in types of dementia (Alzheimer’s, Lewy Body) and this afternoon was on hospice.

Obama the bystander President

Black on black. . . politics

Carlos Danger

Week 6 at Lakeside

Today we’ve had a record low for this date—both the low and the high temperatures were record lows!  Lake Erie is warmer than the air temperature.

Last night’s program was David Cassidy, 1970s teen idol, and lots of his formerly teen fans showed up to fill Hoover Auditorium in Lakeside. In fact, at breakfast this morning I was sitting next to a table of them, analyzing every move plus that of his band and stage helpers. Cassidy rose to fame in the TV show “The Partridge Family,” and is the son of two actors, Evelyn Ward and Jack Cassidy.  Shirley Jones, who played his TV mother, was his step-mother. During these shows, like last week’s Peter Noone, the rocking grandmas provide a lot of entertainment.  He was recovering from a burn and possibly coming down with the flu so was having some voice problems.  I suspect his shows are usually longer, but he made a good effort, and had an adoring audience.

This week’s programming looks good.  On Monday and Tuesday the theme is health and medicine. Alzheimers, hospice, updates on vaccines, nutrition, and 60 tips for the caregiver. (Bev: should I take notes?)  Wednesday is something on ombuds, and I don’t think I’ll attend those, but the morning bird walk at 8 a.m. looks good.  Then Thursday is a Lakeside favorite, Gene Swanger talking about East Asian Culture.  The Lakesiders love him.  The Symphony starts its 50th season this week, and the conductor gave a talk today that I attended. My husband is teaching perspective drawing and painting at the Rhein Center and registered a full class today.

The boring Knox speech

Obama says he wants to assure that the middle class has access to good jobs, education, retirement, healthcare, etc.  Except.  There's no evidence that the middle class is shrinking, and isn't he the president of all the people? All 5 quintiles?  There is still great mobility, despite a recession that was over in 2009, despite the millions added to SNAP rolls during the Obama reign. What about the poor, for instance? They need jobs so they can make it into the middle class; government assistance and transfers won't get them where they need to go. There are so many areas where the economy could boom in just energy, spreading out to more jobs, but Obama and Democrats block them. Then Obama blames "Washington" and "phony scandals."

Don't buy Obama's lies about the middle class. "A Treasury Department analysis of income-tax returns for two 10-year periods, 1987-1996 and 1996-2005 by Treasury economists Gerald Auten and Geoffrey Gee, representing 84 million returns for 120 million taxpayers, found that economic mobility has not changed. From the 1980s to 2005, many Americans progressed both in terms of absolute mobility — they became better-off in absolute terms — and in terms of relative mobility — they rose to another part of the income distribution." Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Market Watch

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2013/07/26/at-knox-college-a-new-speech-for-obama-but-the-same-unimaginative-economics/

First things first

Ho Chi Minh, the Communist

Ho Chi Minh slaughtered millions. Mostly Vietnamese. And it continued after the Americans left. Instead of trying to rewrite history, maybe Obama should have told President Truong Tan Sang the truth? I'm not even going to give him credit for a gaffe. I think he believes his own nonsense. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/26/uh-ho-obama-says-vietnamese-dictator-inspired-by-founding-fathers/

Sneaking out of the White House

Imagine if the president and his daughters decided to sneak out of the White House at night to get a Dairy Queen without security (and without Michelle knowing about it). They see six figures coming toward them--can't see the race, but get close enough to identify the clothing and gender.  Which group would make them feel safer—six teen-men in hoodies and low slung pants, or three middle aged men in khaki shorts walking with their wives/girlfriends? Obama grew up white—he’d be the first to be profiling for the safety of his girls and relieved he didn’t have to confront the hoodies in his hood.

Don’t fund Obamacare

JFK at the U. of I., October 24, 1960

Photos of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kennedy making a campaign stop at the University of Illinois. (U. of I. Archives photo.)  Can't be positive but that looks like McKinley Hall over on the far left in the motorcade photo where I lived in 1960. 801 S. Wright. However, I got married in September and was living and working in Indianapolis.

The American Elms that formed a cathedral arch over the campus walks were gone by then, in fact, I believe they had all been cut even before I got there in 1958.

Update:  looking closer, I think the motorcade is further south, nearer the library.  That’s not McKinley.

Friday Family Photo—The Lustron

I love the Lustron, I really do. There are many in Mt. Morris, IL where I graduated from high school, and my grandparents owned one. They are beautifully designed and very functional. But they were the Solyndra of the 1940s--a federal government boondoggle that ran into problems with the local housing codes, unions, and an over priced product that eventually failed. They live on today.

[Carl] Strandlund knew a major investment would be required to achieve the efficiencies necessary for financial success, so he heavily lobbied the federal government for support. The Truman administration saw the potential of his concept and, in 1947, helped him secure a $15.5 million dollar loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a government agency formed to assist industry during the Depression. In addition, Strandlund got the keys to a million-square-foot former Curtiss-Wright plant next to the Columbus airport. It was an unprecedented government venture into the housing industry, but, according to Knerr, that fact actually gave the project greater credibility and notoriety.

 http://www.ohiohistory.org/publications/ohio-histore-news/2013/july-25-2013/the-lustron-home

Unlike this story reports, there was no post-WWII housing shortage. Housing was taken off the market with government regulations, and that created the shortage which created a housing and mortgage boom.

My grandparents enjoying the porch on the Lustron.

My cousins Pam, Ron, Fred, Jenny Sue, and Lorrie in front of the Lustron owned by their grandparents.

Christian non-profits

“CARM is a 501(c)3, non-profit, Christian ministry dedicated to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the promotion and defense of the Christian Gospel, doctrine, and theology.”

If the government gives, it can take away.  This is a bad idea from several angles.  Eventually, Christian non-profits will have to do something contrary to their beliefs if they want this tax status—maybe recognize same sex marriage, or provide insurance for abortion, or accept non-Christians on their board.  It’s also wrong, I believe, to ask non-Christians to support our religion—because that’s what we’re asking for in not paying  taxes on the income that pays the staff or the office supplies or the real estate costs.  Also, now that we know the government is using the IRS to punish and control, why should be put our people in harm’s way.  Why should board members and staff have their private accounts audited because the organization is under scrutiny.  Let’s get the churches and para-church organizations out from under the government’s thumb so we can be free to speak truth to evil, and the good news to the masses.