Labor Day 1963—Monday Memories

Fifty years ago Labor Day was also September 2  and I went into labor—I remembered that today reading Abby Johnson’s account of a medication abortion (mifepristone and misoprostol), her second. She and her husband were getting a divorce, and she was a volunteer at Planned Parenthood, and “chose” this option based on what counseling she received and thought it would be easier than a surgical abortion (she’d already had one of those).  She was lied to about the amount of pain and bleeding she should expect, and she was afraid she would die as she bled and passed clots for hours.  Alone.  She returned to PP later and asked why she hadn’t been warned and was told that the pain and bleeding is played down, or no one would choose it (I suspect that medication abortions are much more lucrative, and don’t require qualified medical people to be on hand).

After 50 years, I’m a little vague on the details, but I do remember that my second pregnancy had been uncomfortable from day one. . . like someone were pressing needles into my abdomen.  In this photo I was about 6 weeks pregnant and not feeling good at all.  I can remember a few weeks before the miscarriage having sudden bleeding, going to the hospital in a taxi accompanied by a nice man (don’t remember his name) who worked down the hall in the communications office (University of Illinois), and he stayed with me in the emergency room being mistaken for my husband. But after a few hours the bleeding stopped and I was sent home only to have it happen again on Labor Day week-end when I was home.

My first clue that something was terribly wrong was that the stabbing needle pain I’d had for three months was completely gone when I woke up in the morning.  I think now the pain ended because the baby was dead and my body was no longer trying to reject it, for whatever reason.  After some hours on the couch, talking on the phone with my sister in Indiana who was an RN and my OB, we decided to go to the hospital.  I don’t remember if I was given drugs or not, but after a few hours of fairly mild labor pains, the nurse came in to check, and then showed me what looked like a bloody softball in the bed pan.  She pressed all over my abdomen to make sure everything was expelled and examined all tissues carefully before sending it to the lab. She hugged me, too.

Like Abby, I bled a lot too with my miscarriage, but was in the hospital, so although I knew I’d lose the baby, I didn’t fear for my life and I wasn’t lying on the bathroom floor covered in blood, urine, feces and vomit, violently ill from powerful drugs that induce a miscarriage. And I wasn’t alone.

For Abby’s account of her “safe, legal, and quick” medication abortion check her story.

Reconnecting back in Columbus

                 

We take our newer HD flat screen TV to the lake in the summer, and then bring it back. I've rescanned the channels because the lake area channels don’t work in Columbus (we can get Detroit, Cleveland and Ontario there), and am surprised at the additional programming I didn’t have when we left in June. Not sure they’ve been added, or I missed them in the original scan.  I now have 2 channels on zero, and am getting DIY and 2 more c-span than I had before (no box so the selections are limited) and a few more I haven't identified. I’m getting Me-TV which I didn’t have before and an Ohio sports channel.  Both Fox 28 and WOSU are coming in on 2 different channels.

Don’t let Obama waffle us or sweet talk us again

Zucchini-Sausage Split

Serve this tasty morsel for brunch, or with salad for lunch, or cut into quarters for hors d’oeuvures. We enjoyed this at the Idlewyld Bed and Breakfast in Lakeside, Ohio and I asked Joan for the recipe.

1 pound finely chopped zucchini

1 chopped onion

14 oz. jar of salsa (Chi chi)

1 pound grated cheddar cheese'

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup parmesan cheese fresh grated

1 pound cooked bulk sausage

2 beaten eggs

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1 cups bread or cracker crumbs

Season with salt, ppper, oregano, or fresh herbs

English muffin halves

Mix all ingredients together and spoon over toasted muffin halves.  Broil until golden and serve hot.  Serves 12

Governor Gilligan

I was walking on the dock at Lakeside about 7:30 a.m. and met a neighbor. He stopped me and asked, "Why is the flag at half mast?" "Governor Gilligan died," I said. "I haven't had the news on or read a newspaper much this summer," he said. And so it goes. People just don't want to know, the news has gotten so bad. Gilligan's worst legacy just might be his daughter, Kathleen Sibelius, head of HHS who is helping Obama kill the first amendment. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/sebelius-decrease-human-beings-will-cover-cost-contraception-mandate

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/26/john-gilligan-ohio-governor-congressman-death/2703863/

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/08/26/John-Gilligan-former-Ohio-governor-dies.html

What’s the appropriate response to the new parents of a baby with Down Syndrome?

Congratulations!, says this mother.

DEAR AMY: I’m responding to your answer to “Caring Colleague,” the person wanting to know how to respond to a friend’s announcement of his sibling’s new child with Down syndrome.

I felt your answer was well-meant but wrong. As a parent of a 7-year-old with Down, I received both wonderful and horrid responses to the news of my child’s diagnosis. The correct answer is “Congratulations!” Period.

At the birth of a typically chromosomed child, one does not temper their joy at the thought of the work involved, the possibilities of difficult times (think drug abuse, teen drama, car accidents, school trouble, etc.) ahead. That comes with being a parent.

Just because the challenges faced by parents with kids with Down are different than the planned challenges, there is simply no need to acknowledge the road ahead as tougher than anyone else’s road. It is more work; it is more worry. But the benefits of having a child with Down totally level the playing field here. The birth of this child is a joyful thing. End of story. -- Proud Mom

Amy Dickinson advice column, Washington post.

Just like the Afghanistan surge of 2009

Meaningless and very dangerous.  Obama plans to “punish” Assad, and make a strike that is “visually compelling?”  It’s like announcing in 2009 U.S. withdrawal date and giving the enemy excuses to keep killing (and they did).  What sort of military leader is this?  Not only had he lost more military in 4 years than Bush did in 8 (which the media is careful not to mention) with his dawdling and foot dragging in Afghanistan after he became “chief”, but he makes “red lines” and shots “across the bow” and “let me be clear” statements that are squishy and meaningless.

No one is listening, but over 60% of Americans think Obama’s hawkish moves are dangerous and ridiculous.  We heard all the WMD gossip before Congress agreed to go to war in Iraq.  And this “peace prize prez” doesn’t even bother to ask Congress.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/30/obama-opposition-mounting-syria-strike

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/obama-syria-oil_n_3839931.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bromwich/the-crossroads-on-syria_b_3839952.html

Obama plans to kill more Syrians than chemicals ever will. And at this point, no one even knows if or who is using the chemical weapons.

What happened to the little girl in the picture?

 

http://pjsaunders.blogspot.com/2013/08/do-you-know-what-happened-to-girl-in.html

The year of the bathroom

Earlier this year (seemed like it went on forever) we remodeled two full bathrooms in our condo in Columbus.  Then this summer we decided the wall in our only bathroom at our cottage needed more repair and fixtures than we knew (i.e. my husband) how to repair and repaint.  So we hired this one done, too.  We bought this house in 1988 when we were 49 and 50 and a lot livelier, and for 12 straight week-ends we drove here to paint and repair things, redoing the entire house, including carpet, curtains, window blinds, and since it was all done in the same time period, everything was coordinated around the colors, blue, pink and cream. The previous owner, a widow, had done a few things after her husband died, like put in whole house air conditioning and triple track storm windows. We added a deck, eventually replaced the roof, the furnace and the AC.   In the last few years, the sink, cabinet, floor and toilet in the bathroom have been replaced, and finally, the damage from showers just had to be fixed.  The reason you see a window in the shower/tub area is that when this house was built (1944) very few homes had showers, so it was never a very good fit. The shower was added probably in the 80s, and we’d had some of it repaired a few years ago. So here’s the “new” color—sort of the shade of the sky this morning under the sun as it rose over Lake Erie and I was walking on the dock—it’s deeper and richer than what shows in the photo. It will get a second coat today—after rescheduling this 3 times due to a variety of reasons, we got the most humid week of the summer. Owning a home is never an “investment,” it’s always expensive.  But owning a second/vacation home has no  tax advantages at all, unless you rent it out, in which case you have even more repairs.

Hot smashed potatoes

Ingredients
12 whole New Potatoes (or Other Small Round Potatoes)
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Kosher Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Rosemary (or Other Herbs Of Choice) To Taste

Preparation Instructions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available.)
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Might be a fun way to serve potatoes.  This was shared by cousin Sarah Strauss on FB.

Hitchhikers on the nerves—cancer of the head and neck

We see what we know. . .

HOMEMADE MOSQUITO TRAP

Items needed:
1 cup of water (200 ml water)
1/4 cup of brown sugar (50 grams)
1 gram of yeast
2-liter plastic bottle

HOW:
1. Cut the plastic bottle in half.
2. Mix brown sugar with hot water. Let cool. When cold, pour in the bottom half of the bottle.
3. Add the yeast. No need to mix. It creates carbon dioxide, which attracts mosquitoes.
4. Place the funnel part, upside down, into the other half of the bottle, taping them together if desired.
5. Wrap the bottle with something black, leaving the top uncovered, and place it outside in an area away from your normal gathering area. (Mosquitoes are also drawn to the color black.)
Change the solution every 2 weeks for continuous control.

This summer at Lakeside has been very wet—there was one point where we’d had rain 19 days in a row.  However, I’ve only had one mosquito bite.  So I’ll tuck this away for next year.  Since I don’t drink pop, I wonder if you couldn’t just add the yeast to some soda pop. Or are mosquitoes picky?

If you donate to Planned Parenthood, here’s what you support

Once again...
Planned Parenthood does NOT provide:
-Mammograms
-Prenatal Care
-Breast Biopsies...
-Breast Cancer Diagnostic Care
-Primary Health Care
-Diabetes Treatment
-Treatment for Elevated Cholesterol
-Treatment for Elevated Blood Pressure
-Holistic Medicine
-Obstetrical Care
-Pediatric Care
-Care for HIV Positive Individuals
-Infertility Treatments
-Natural Family Planning Instruction
-Care for Uterine Fibroids
-Treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
-Adoption Placement
-Prostate Exams
-Uterine Laser Ablation
-Cervical Laser Ablation
-Miscarriage Management
-Bladder Disorders and Urinary Problems
-Prolapsed Pelvic Floor Concerns
-Laparoscopic Procedures
-Hysterectomy
-Treatment of Endometriosis
-Polyp Removal
-Endometrial Ablation
-BRCA Testing
-Bone Density Testing
-Treatment of Pelvic Pain
-Treatment of Vulvar Pain
-Molar Pregnancy Follow Up

Planned Parenthood DOES provide:
-First and Second Trimester Abortions
-Limited STD testing and treatment
-Pap Smears for Women in Child Bearing Years
-Limited Contraceptive Methods

Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood employee

What will they next call racist?

I’m thinking it might be wearing an apron, or serving pancakes.  I noticed at Obama’s inauguration dinner in 2009, all the servers were black.  Is that racist? Or just noticing it is racist.  Like noticing the difference in the way the media and the president treat black on white crime.  What will become racist is noticing how whites are treated. Here at Lakeside I watch Detroit local news in the morning.  Not good.

Keep in mind that we live in a nation with a black President and a black Attorney General. Furthermore, the government is legally allowed to discriminate against white Americans based on the color of their skin and it happily does so; yet you can't go a day in this country without hearing liberals howling about what a racist country they live in. It has almost become a circular, faith-based argument. America is racist because so many liberals say it's racist because they've heard other liberals say the country is racist. http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2013/08/27/15-moronic-things-liberals-call-racism-since-obama-was-elected-n1674131/page/full

Democrats’ record on WMD

Democrats have misled us before about WMD. At the end of the Clinton years, we had Kerry, Edwards, Kennedy, Albright, Waxman, Pelosi and Pres. Clinton to mention just a few convincing us of the threat--but they thought Gore would be president and needed to stir up fear. Democrats seem to have amnesia about Congress and the committees meeting in 2002-2003 before the Iraq invasion.

Today no one seems to be sure just who is using gas in Syria, but for the 100,000 already dead in this civil war of Muslim against Muslim, does it really matter? Are children gassed more dead than those who died in bombings? And who gives the U.S. the moral authority to "punish" the perps? With Iran threatening to attack our only ally, perhaps Obama needs to call Congress back from vacation.

• "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998-[This was at the same Ohio State University appearance as Madeline Albright.]

• "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

• "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
  Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

• This one has a very familiar ring--like this week? "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
  Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

• I guess now we know where those WMD went the U.S. inspectors couldn't find in Iraq. I mean, could all those leading Democrats be wrong?

Murray Trout, guest blogger, died on Monday, August 26

I was sorry to learn that Murray Trout of Mt. Morris, Illinois and The Villages in Florida died unexpectedly Monday evening.  He had been seen on his usual route that day, biking around the little town he loved and often wrote about. I’d known Murray since 1954 and was on his e-mail list which kept the ex-pats informed of local events and his political views.  This is sad news. I haven’t seen an obituary. I will miss his “Another Mounder passes. . .” e-mails.

Here’s a photo of Murray letting his views be known in Washington, D.C. about 3 years ago.

Murray wrote a nice time line from 1957 on about Kables and printing in Mt. Morris for my blog. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2010/12/story-of-kables-and-mt-morris-timeline.html

What will he do about Syria?

Yup. I have friends and relatives who abandoned support for Bush because of the wars for which he had Congressional approval. They helped vote in Obama, who gave comfort to the enemy while a Senator, dawdled around about the surge in 2009 until Afghanistan lit up again and now he's lost more men in 4 years than Bush did in 8, and he's ready to go to war in Syria not even caring that we'd have to support one or the other of two really bad players. The U.S. leader has zip, nada, zilch credibility.

Obama’s gay agenda—from Minority Republican

“He [Obama] lied to the public when he was presidential candidate Obama, stating that he held the conviction that marriage was between a man and a woman, and is a sacred act before God. Over the course of a couple of years, he has abandoned that "deeply held conviction" and is now pushing a global "gay rights" agenda. He either lied then or he's lying now. Either way, he's a liar. Sure, all people deserve human rights, including the unborn (a group of people President Obama refuses to defend). . .

Every culture has moral standards, and the moral standards of American culture have declined to the point in which Christians must understand that we always have been and always will be counter-cultural. If we live as we should and believe what God says in His Word, we will not agree with many of the cultural norms embraced by modern culture, especially as this nation strays further and further from the moral foundation that this nation was founded upon, morals that were borrowed from Christianity and the Christian Bible. It is the choice of the people. If you are a Christian, the best way to fight the tide of secular humanism and moral relativism that has swept the world is through prayer, evangelism, and discipleship. This brings about a change not by law or force, but changes the mind and transforms the heart so that people will know and love the ways of God. Let's do our part! Share the gospel with someone today.”

The Civil Rights Movement—intellectually bankrupt

 

Juan Williams in today's WSJ contrasts the 1963 and 2013 marches. He notes that by 1963 the Civil Rights movement had stalled--". . . Few schools had integrated after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision nine years earlier. One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil Rights Act was stuck in Congress."' The accomplishments he notes--the Emancipation, the integration of schools, the push for a meaningful Civil Rights act--were all by Republicans and Democrats were dragging their feet. Now it is the Democrat party again with locks on all the major cities and supporting the outrageous abortion rate for black women and the decimation of black families that is again blocking future progress for fear the race baiters will lose their power.

The regressive progressives

The March this past week-end was anything but progress. Now there's a black president, governors, cabinet, military, etc. and they are terrified their lies about race won't work! These race baiters fear progress for minorities--it would put them out of their jobs which rely on always stirring up hatred. And they were over counted and left the mall a mess, but they always do.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/24/march-washington-50th-anniversary-martin-luther-king/2693667/