Friday Family Photo—the Ford Explorer

In the fall of 1999 we bought a 2000 2 dr. Ford Explorer, forest green, shift, good gas mileage.  It has been a great car and still looks good. There was a recall on the original tires very early, so we're still on those replacements after 14 years. The bumper got bumped about 5 years ago and developed some rust, so we had that replaced.  Because it's basically a truck, it's not comfortable for my back when I’m a passenger, but the step ladder fits in the back, so we keep it for the art shows and our kids hauling things. This week our daughter borrowed it while her husband was in Cleveland with their car, so we had to make some adjustments in our schedule.  We could probably manage with 1 car, but this is just too convenient and useful. (This is not our Explorer in the photo—it’s pulling a boat.)

Why you can’t reason with ignorance

I contribute to Huffington Post political FB page. I don’t call people names, slander the president or make biased statements.  I just contribute sourced statements.  Like this one about why the food stamp program is expanding as unemployment drops and so mean old Republicans want poor people to starve by cutting back. All you have to do is check a reasonable source like the USDA or a non-profit that works with the poor—left or right—and you see that recruiting of low income people was expanded with ARRA money--the money that was going to get people back to work in 2009 was used in part to add more people to SNAP (the new name for food stamps).  I even pointed out that the N in SNAP stands for nutrition, and that EBT cards can be used at fast food restaurants.  For that easily researched information I was told I was stupid and uninformed.  My posts are always researched and reasonable, and the left calls me a troll, stupid, tea bagger, racist, homophobe, etc.  That’s the level of political discourse.

Just say no, Doctor.

I've often wondered about this--why do pharmaceutical companies advertise to us, the consumer, as if we know what the doctor needs to prescribe.  It seems it's not that old.  Claritin was the first in 1997, according to the University of Illinois LAS newsletter (May 2013).

http://www.las.illinois.edu/news/2013/rosenberg/

Worked as planned

Divots on the golf course and pivots on the economy

"Because Obama speaks with such authority, it often takes several repetitions before I realize that what he’s saying is total nonsense." Caroline Baum, Bloomberg, on his "growing the economy" meme, A User’s Guide to Obama’s Inside-Out Economics, Aug. 7, 2013

He's pivoted again; it's back to the economy. The rich have recovered; the low income not so much. Five years and Obama can't fix it. The recession has been over since June 2009. Truman had a recession, Eisenhower had several, Nixon got a recession, so did Carter, so did Reagan, so did both Bushes, and all were brief and the economy quickly recovered. But then, they didn't try to take over health care and pay back and bail out unions and bankers. You have to go all the way back to FDR's mishandling of the Depression in the 30s, extending it a decade, to find a record this poor.

          

NSA snoops

Fourteen NSA documents were declassified on Tuesday in response to a May 2011 ACLU lawsuit. The documents were made public under the Freedom of Information Act and related to the government's interpretation of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which ambiguously grants the FBI permission to obtain "any tangible things" without evidence or probable cause for the sake of national security.

ACLU National Security Project staff attorney Alex Abdo: "These documents show that the NSA repeatedly violated court-imposed limits on its surveillance powers, and they confirm that the agency simply cannot be trusted with such sweeping authority."

Conservatives underestimate Obama and his support

Although I enjoy reading American Thinker, this writer, J.R. Dunn is underestimating Obama. Conservatives seem to be in an echo chamber listening only to themselves. Obama's supporters still love him and think all these detriments Dunn cites are positives. They don't even see the worsening race relations, or blame them on those who oppose him. The wealthier are getting richer after a few tough years, and the poorer are losing ground--they don't care.

From J.R. Dunn in American Thinker:
"Obama is less lucky than FDR, less competent than Jimmy Carter, and less flexible than Bill Clinton. With Obama, all the failures of liberalism are coming to a head. He has put more liberal policies into effect in a shorter period than any other president, but thanks to his unique combination of ineptness, ignorance, inexperience, and arrogance, every last one of them is doomed. All of them are failing as we watch. His economic policies have repeated the failures of FDR's New Deal, with worse to come. His health care "reform" is in a state of collapse before it has even started. His stewardship of race relations has returned the country to a state of nearly open hostility and panic not seen since 1968. His Hallmark card foreign policy has killed tens of thousands overseas and will almost inevitably lead to the deaths of millions, as did the policies of Jimmy Carter in countries as unrelated as Nicaragua, Iran, Ethiopia, and Cambodia."

Defund Obamacare; don’t try to fix it

I called Steve Stivers, my representative, talked to a real person and after giving her my name told her, "Please tell Mr. Stivers I want him to vote for defunding Obamacare." She asked my address and thanked me for calling. To sweeten the deal for Congress and staff to get their support, Obama will give them a $4,500 subsidy for individuals and $10,000 for family coverage to help pay the cost of their Obamacare exchange. In the rest of the country, you lose assistance after an income of about $46,000 (Source: WSJ, August 8, 2013; Affordable Care Act) A number of companies and unions have been exempt, but HHS still mandates Christians will pay for abortifacients and birth control, and we all know that's just the nose of the camel in the tent.

Meanwhile according to today’s Washington Post, the U.S. continues to supply rebel forces, some of which are al-qaeda, in Syria despite our protests. And if we could ever get the media to do investigative journalism, we might find out what happened to all the arms we lost in Libya (Benghazi).

The CIA shipments are to flow through a network of clandestine bases in Turkey and Jordan that were expanded over the past year as the agency sought to help Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, direct weapons to moderate Syrian rebel forces.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-begins-weapons-delivery-to-syrian-rebels/2013/09/11/9fcf2ed8-1b0c-11e3-a628-7e6dde8f889d_story.html

JAMA’s new cover design

I hate it.  Now I can never tell which issue I’ve read.  I loved their covers and always looked forward to reading the details. Yes, it’s still inside, but it’s lost its purpose.

“The cover art made JAMA a beacon for humanism that shouted out its presence in a sea of technological advancement, and reminded us that medicine is closely intertwined with people and culture. In marketing terms, the revised cover represents rebranding not only of JAMA but perhaps of the medical profession itself. The change comes at a time when medicine sorely needs a touch of humanism, and rather than taking art away we need more of it.” http://www.jeffreymlevinemd.com/jama-redesign-removes-cover-art/

Syria Time Line for White House

Sex diary of RFK Jr.

Robert Kennedy, Jr's sex diary has been published and although I think he's no moral prize and this is the pot calling the kettle black, "During lock up [with Al Sharpton], he apparently had plenty of time to critique his fellow Democrats, saying that Sharpton 'has done more damage to the black cause' than segregationist governors in the south who prevented school integration. '(Sharpton's) transparent venal blackmail and extortion schemes taint all black leadership,' Kennedy wrote."

Sounds like he was trying to keep up with his uncle, JFK, or maybe his grandfather who was also randy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415988/RFK-Jrs-secret-sex-diary-RFK-Jr-slammed-creepy-Al-Sharpton-said-Andrew-Cuomo-lacked-humanity-diary-kept-ranking-of-women-cheated-with.html

Fairfax County Library throws out usable books

Throwing out usable books and cutting staff, and hiring more non-librarians to buy more digitized collections is foolish. Information IS NOT FREE, whether it appears on your Kindle, your computer, or your paperback.  There are many people, children and adults, who would have been delighted to have these books.  And if the county isn’t allow to give away its own property, then the Friends of the Library should have sold them for a reduced price to get back some of the tax payer money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fairfax-county-library-revamps-system-discards-books-reduces-librarians/2013/09/09/e3dca65a-1724-11e3-be6e-dc6ae8a5b3a8_story.html?hpid=z3

For years, the public and librarians were told computerization/digitization would save money.  That hasn’t happened. It has just replaced library staff with IT staff and constant upgrading of equipment, software and contracts with book bundlers.   Also, digitized books/documents are easily edited with no one knowing--the earlier version is just gone. I recall looking something up a few years back in an e-encyclopedia at the public library only to discover the horrors of the Soviet Union had virtually disappeared.

Dumpster diving for books at Chantilly technical operations center in a Washington, DC’s affluent suburbs. (Median family  income in Fairfax Co. is about $120,000) Photo by Linda Smyth.

Mission Accomplished

Michelle Obama has hung out the "mission accomplished" sign for us. Her husband has completely destroyed U.S. credibility and succeeded in totally transforming our image from tough guy to indecisive, flip flopping wimp who will go after an enemy with words and itsy bitsy strikes leaving everything in tact. She doesn't want to lose any more far left supporters, so she's let him know his job is done.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2416530/First-lady-Michelle-Obama-opposes-military-action-Syria-president-reveals.html

What the state creates, it can destroy--marriage

I have no idea who Marie Dean is, but on several occasion this commenter at blogs has made a lot of sense.  Most likely a Catholic, this is Dean’s take on the so-called gay or same sex marriage. From comments on other topics, I would guess Dean teaches history.

“The state regulation of marriage began in the Protestant Reformation, a legal movement in the 18th century gaining momentum in the 19th century, with laws in England, Scotland, Switzerland, France and then Germany demanding State recognized marriages rather than Canon Law ones as previously regulated under the Catholic Church. What these laws did was give power to the State to determine the definition of marriage, rather than the Church, allowing for the State, therefore, to change the definition of marriage at will. Civil ceremonies were more common in the French Republic and under Napoleon, as religious or sacramental marriages were not recognized by the State, for example. In England today, a religious marriage is not recognized by law without a civil marriage.

What this did was undermine any moral position of marriage, as once marriage was divorced, pun intended, from religion, anything civil definition could be manipulated.

It is only in the 20th and 21st centuries that we see the logical consequences of separating marriage from a religious sacramental act and merely becoming one more cog in the societal wheel. That such gross aberrations did not happen before the mid-20th century merely points to the fact that there was an overlay of Christianity in the culture. Once that disappeared, the State did what it always wanted to do, define marriage outside that Christian moral framework.

The California law would be in keeping with the logical progress of the undermining of the sacredness of marriage begun back in 1753. Even if the state required a religious setting, as in England at that date, it was the State deciding, creating the law, not God. What the State can create, the State can destroy.”

9/6/2013 First Things article on Marvin v. Marvin

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/09/the-case-that-destroyed-marriage

The long good-bye

We worshipped at the lovely Hilltop Lutheran today; enjoyed Pastor Paul's final sermon there and also his playing the organ.  He is retiring at the end of the month and is preaching at different locations.  It is one of the 3 campuses of our church, Upper Arlington Lutheran, but it had probably been 5 years since we'd visited. A warm and friendly congregation, 12 South Terrace, Columbus, OH 43204.

Paul and June came to UALC in 1973 after 4 years in Minneapolis right out of seminary, and we joined in 1974, so we’ve had a long time together.  He left for awhile (8 years?) to pastor a church in Illinois, but came back as associate, and then became the senior pastor about 11 years ago.

Paul came to the hospital in 1988 when our daughter was in a serious automobile accident and was with us when she had her cancer surgery in 1996.  He officiated at our son’s wedding in 1999. He’s preached more funeral sermons than I want to recall. So, 40 years is a long time.

We also worshipped earlier at our Lytham Road campus, where we had flowers on the alter for our 53rd wedding anniversary.  Now we have them on the deck so we can see them through the dining room window.

Liberal media line up to kiss butt when Obama follows Bush

“Obama made clear in his Rose Garden announcement that he wasn’t seeking Congress’s approval out of constitutional necessity. “I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization,” he said, arguing that the “country will be stronger” if Congress grants authorization. That happens to be precisely the argument the Bush administration made in the run-up to the Iraq War in 2002. The president also acknowledged during a press conference in Sweden on Wednesday that the United States “may not be directly, imminently threated” by the conflict in Syria.

As liberal commentators such as E. J. Dionne and Nicholas Kristof – along with a host of previously “anti-war” Democrats – have lined up in support of Obama’s plan to attack Syria, there has been relatively little discussion about the president’s blatant disavowal of the opinion he expressed as a candidate in 2007, when he told the Boston Globe that “the President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.””

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/357764/obama-constitutional-hero-andrew-stiles

But wait.  Bush did get authorization, and Obama says he will strike without it, so I guess it really isn’t the same, is it?

Senators voting Yes and the defense contractor connection

* Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) - $60,000
* Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) - $24,150
* Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) - $80,550
* Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) - $41,872
* Christopher Coons (D-Del.) - $19,500
* Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) - $127,350
* Tim Kaine (D-Va.) - $101,025
* Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) - $70,850
* Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) - $26,900
* John McCain (R-Ariz.) - $176,300

Looks like McCain got the largest amount, and he’s been one of the biggest disappointments for Republicans.  Having run against Obama in 2008, he knows personally how he lies and distorts.

“Senators voting Wednesday to authorize a Syria strike received, on average, 83 percent more campaign financing from defense contractors than lawmakers voting against war.

Overall, political action committees and employees from defense and intelligence firms such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, United Technologies, Honeywell International, and others ponied up $1,006,887 to the 17 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who voted yes or no on the authorization Wednesday, according to an analysis by Maplight, the Berkeley-based nonprofit that performed the inquiry at WIRED’s request.”

President Obama and Syria

I rarely drink soda (aka pop)

It was very hot recently, and I had a 7-up mixed with orange juice.  Someone in the U.S. is drinking my share, which is in the gallons per capita.

Obama’s red line