This isn’t what the Founders meant

Black Chicagoans give their State of the Union response

Watch this SOTU response. One of the best you'll see.

 http://allenbwest.com/2014/01/incredible-video-black-chicago-sotu-response/

Thursday Thirteen--13 cities in the U.S. named for saints

How many of these have you visited?

The big ones everyone knows. . .

1. St. Louis
2. St. Augustine
3. San Francisco
4. San Antonio
5. San Diego
6. Santa Barbara
7. Santa Clara
8. Santa Ana
9. Santa Maria
10.Santa Monica
11. St. Paul

And then the not so well known

12. St. Joseph, Illinois
13. St. Mary’s City, Maryland

I have visited 1,3,4,5,6,9,10,11 and 12. That I can remember. We were in Maryland a few years ago and so St. Mary's City is a possibility. This shows the Catholic Spanish and French influences.

And there are many more cities, states, rivers, parishes and counties named for saints. But. . .I only needed 13.

Los Angeles isn't named for angels, but for Mary. "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reyna de los Angeles" (although it's a little murky).
Sacramento is named for the sacraments (after the river), but that's not its original name.
Santa Cruz is Holy Cross.

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Thirteen, check here.

Income inequality?

Inequality? Income gap? Actually white collar workers and particularly CEOs or business owners may work 60-70 hours a week, some with no vacation for years if they are owners of small businesses. Why are they demonized by this President? Years ago when a $60,000/year salary was pretty good money for a new college graduate, I knew a young woman in the investment field and thought she had it pretty good--and she did (and still does and now makes 6 figures with a stay at home husband to watch the kids and manage the household help and investments), however, she was working 70-80 hours a week at 21 for that salary and sharing a tiny apartment in New York with 2 other  women. The Wall St. company brought in catered meals--entry level workers didn't even get a break for lunch or dinner. Her annual income today should not be compared with other women who have made different choices, like working part time, or a 37.5 hour week, or 10 months a year so they can be home in the summer with the kids, or going into the arts or becoming a pastor. Oh yes, the first job for this honor student was below minimum wage as a summer resort waitress working for tips.

POTATO PUFFS

I’ll probably never make this, but it sounded good. Potatoes combined with milk are practically a perfect food, but this may be gilding the lily. Potatoes are high in vitamin C, have no cholesterol, are fat-free, have many vitamins and minerals and are cheap and easy to store. It's the gravy, cheese, sour cream and sides that give it a bad name

Ingredients

• 3 cups of mashed potatoes
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream (optional extra for serving)
• 1 heaping cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives or parsley
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease with butter 8 - 9 of the wells of a nonstick muffin  pan.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the eggs then mix in the sour cream. Stir in both cheeses and the chives. Add potatoes and mix well. Spoon them into the pan filling the cups to slightly below the top. Bake 25- 35 minutes until they pull away from the sides of the cup and are golden brown. Remove from oven and let them cool 5 minutes in pan. Serve with sour cream if desired.

However, there is some bad news, too

Another bad storm is predicted for next week with a lot of snow.

“If this verifies [Chris Bradley, Channel 10] we'd be looking at a classic storm for Ohio with low pressure moving up from Texas and Oklahoma into Central Kentucky. The snowfall projections are above a foot across nearly the entire state.”

Income inequality

The number one advantage for a poor or low income child is to have married parents. That and a job for dad, any job, will provide those parents with the opportunity to leave poverty behind. No government program makes that kind of promise. It should at least get lip service during any speech about income inequality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kathleen-parker-to-defeat-poverty-look-to-marriage/2014/01/14/33e274ae-7d5f-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html

More to the point, we know that being unmarried is one of the highest risk factors for poverty. And no, splitting expenses between unmarried people isn’t the same. This is because marriage creates a tiny economy fueled by a magical concoction of love, selflessness and permanent commitment that holds spirits aloft during tough times.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2003/09/childrenfamilies-haskins

Unwed childbearing has risen from 6.3 percent of all births in 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty, to more than 40 percent today. As Rector shows, these single-parent families with children are six times more likely to be poor than are married couples with kids. Put differently, marriage lowers the probability of child poverty by 82 percent.

http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2010/11/marriage-shows-the-way-out-of-poverty

This, not that, is the real State of the Union

• Jobs: Ninety-two million Americans are out of the workforce.

• Health Insurance: Five-plus million Americans who had health insurance have now lost that health insurance. As many as 25 million more could lose their insurance this year. All of it due to Obamacare.

• Poverty: Fifty million Americans now live below the poverty level, a number which has risen to the highest level in American history since the 1960’s as calculated by the US Department of Labor.

• Food Stamps: A record forty seven million Americans are on Food Stamps.

• U.S. Debt: Now stands at a first-time record of over $17 trillion. The national debt has increased by $6 trillion under Obama, surpassing George W. Bush’s eight years back in 2012 — after just three years and two months in office.

• Energy: And as the cold grips America, energy costs soar.

http://spectator.org/articles/57555/king-naked

Snollygosters

SNOLLYGOSTERS

By Jack Burnette

It was grand noble thing,

When we rebelled George, our king.

And declared ourselves an independent nation.

Where patriots’ blood once stained the ground.

Hordes of snollygosters now abound.

Fattening their wallets through self-serving legislation.

Our Founding Fathers must be appalled.

To watch our congress display their gall.

To let lobbyist so easily chart our course.

Right and Left are not immune,

They’re mere puppets who’ve danced the tune,

Like the south end of a mangy northbound horse.

But the piper must have his fee,

Now it’s left to you and me,

So take heed and make a mental note.

How greedy scoundrels feed

At the trough,

And how we bleed,

And remember in November when we vote.

snol·ly·gos·ter [ snóllee gòstər ]

1. self-seeker: somebody, especially a politician, whose actions are motivated by self-interest rather than by high principles

2. This appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch 10/21/2013

The crisis in mental health beds

Perhaps you watched 60 minutes Sunday night about Austin Deeds, son of Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, who left a Virginia hospital emergency room, went home, stabbed his father, and then killed himself. He was mentally ill, and there were no hospital beds. The implication of the story was that America has failed, won't financially support treatment for the mentally ill. But I was around in the 1970s when there was another "civil rights" movement for the mentally ill, led by former patients of institutions, social workers, academics and church do-gooders. With new drugs, small group homes, counseling, etc., large institutions weren't needed, we were told.

In the late 70s we took a friend having a break down to Riverside hospital, he wasn't even a citizen, and he was treated for a week or so, got counseling, drugs, and his life was saved and today is a functioning, healthy person. That couldn't happen today. There are no beds. Take someone to ER today having a breakdown and you might get a few hours of help. And it was liberals, not conservatives, who did this. If the mall shooter of last week in MD had shown signs of his mental illness, his mother would have been helpless, as was the mother of the Sandy Hook shooter. We called it civil rights then; today we call it helpless to save them.

Some bi-polar and schizophrenic people do very well on medication—so well that they decide not to take them any more. But parents can’t always intervene if they are adults, and their hands are tied to get help.  Such a story was told in the December issue of (614) of Adam Helbling who felt a huge let down on medication and he was no long Jesus Christ. We did them no favors when we closed the care facilities in favor of medication.  Both are needed.

 

 http://nation.time.com/2014/01/27/lawmaker-whose-son-attacked-him-faults-mental-health-system/

The Columbia Mall Shooting

They always look for motives. He wasn't poor—a preppy; he graduated from a great pubic high school; he had a job; was environmentally conscientious; liked by others; loved by his family.  But he was suicidal and apparently did want to be known before he left this life. There are common denominators in these tragedies--young and male and mentally troubled. Three dead (including the shooter) and five injured.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/2014/01/27/

Darion Marcus Aguilar

Two law enforcement officials, speaking on the condition of ­anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said Aguilar kept a journal in which he described suicidal thoughts. When the young man’s mother reported him missing Saturday, they said, a police detective was sent to the home. He began reading the journal, but Aguilar’s mother demanded he stop.

Later, after authorities identified Aguilar as the shooter, police seized the journal. In addition to the references to suicide, it contains notes expressing hatred of certain groups, according to the officials, who did not elaborate in detail.

Update: "Howard County police said they have reviewed Aguilar's journal and are examining his cellphone and a home computer, but have found nothing that connects him with the victims. Of the journal, authorities said only that Aguilar "knew he was having mental health issues. . . For more than a year, Aguilar had lived with his mother in the 4700 block of Hollywood Road in College Park — about a half-hour drive from the mall. Before that, Aguilar and his family lived in Silver Spring, about 20 minutes from the mall.

Aguilar did not have a driver's license, according to a Rockville gun shop owner who sold him the shotgun used in the attack. Aguilar used a state learner's permit for identification when he bought the gun Dec. 10." Baltimore Sun

Stop Common Core

“Common Core was developed primarily by a nonprofit called Achieve, Inc., in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). The Standards cover mathematics and English language arts (although they also claim to cover “literacy” in other subjects such as science, history/social studies, and technical subjects). Currently, two consortia of states have accepted hundreds of millions in federal money to create national tests to align with the Standards.”

http://ohioansagainstcommoncore.com/ohio-timeline/

http://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/tag/stop-common-core/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/27/ny-teachers-union-common-core_n_4676465.html

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/25/CT-State-Senator-Will-Introduce-Bill-to-Stop-Common-Core-Advertising

Our corporate tax rate is the highest in the world

Our current high-rate policy is harming the U.S. economy, reducing job growth, and stifling wages—for no good reason. Abolition is a good long-term goal for corporate income tax reform, but we can start with at least chopping our federal-state rate of 40 percent down to the global average of 24 percent.

http://www.cato.org/blog/tax-reform-first-step-simple?

Dear Liberal Christian,

Your heart may be in the right place, but your hand is in my purse.  All studies show that marriage of the parents of children is the #1 way to reduce poverty in the U.S.A. With married parents, a child has only about 8% chance of being raised in poverty. A better house, or a better education doesn't do it. Lunch programs from USDA distributed by church volunteers doesn't make a dent. Social justice workshops and summits for sure don't either, except maybe to tamp down a little liberal guilt if the Bible falls open to Matthew 25.

 

I eat orange peel

I eat an orange every day.  About every third orange, I slice the peel, put it in a small amount of water and zap it in the microwave, drain, and do it again and drain.  Then I soak it in sugar water for a day.  Sometimes I save that water for my tea. I drain the water and sprinkle the peel with sugar and keep it in the frig in a closed container, where I munch a few slices a day for something tangy and sweet (much less sugar than a piece of candy). I used to let the slices dry out and then sugar them, but it didn’t really change the taste.  If I were serving them at a party as sugared orange peels, I’d probably do it the right way.  I don’t think I’ve discovered all the health benefits that this web page reports (lower cholesterol, anti-inflammatory, weight loss), but at least I haven’t had a cold in 18 months, which is pretty unusual for me.  Or it’s a fluke.  Either way,I’ve become rather fond of the peels.  I sometimes chop them (after I’ve prepared them) in small pieces and add to fruit salads.

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/fruit-peel.html

Always read instructions for cleaning the peel.

Monday Memories—childhood before modern vaccines

If  you're anti-vaccine, please check out this interactive map about outbreaks of easily preventable diseases. Most vaccines weren't available when I was a child (except for small pox) and I had measles, mumps, whooping cough, chicken pox and scarlet fever; my sister and many friends and relatives had polio; in the early 60s I had a baby born with multiple defects from my having been exposed to measles—he died. My children only had chicken pox which now has a vaccine. As an adult I got tetanus vaccine and boosters. My grandmother’s brother died from stepping on a nail in the barn and got lockjaw and left a widow and 3 children.  Her other brother died of diphtheria when he was 17.  Both diseases are now preventable with vaccines.  My cousin Jimmy died of polio in 1949 and the affects of polio followed my sister all her life, and probably shortened it.  I never miss my flu shot--it's a killer of the elderly. As an adult I got a shingles vaccine after seeing the horrible pain it causes. I personally know two  people who didn't get the shingles vaccine and got it in their eyes (it can affect any part of the body). Vaccines are so successful that today parents don't realize the damage, death and disability infectious diseases can cause by jumping on the anti-vaccine bandwagon. They've never seen a child blinded by measles, made deaf from mumps, and if they've seen an iron lung it's in a medical museum.

 http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums-damage-caused-anti-vaccination-movement

 

Shingles: While the rash itself usually lasts two to three weeks, people often go on to have permanent pain in the area of the rash. This is known as neuralgia and is debilitating and very difficult to treat as it doesn’t respond to normal painkillers. Approximately one in 1,000 people over 70 will die from shingles

Tetanus:. Of 99 tetanus patients with complete information reported to CDC during 1987 and 1988, 68% were greater than or equal to 50 years of age, while only six were less than 20 years of age.

Whooping cough:  The CDC recommends that all adolescents and adults from age 11 and up receive a single booster dose of Tdap. In adolescents, Tdap should replace the usual tetanus booster shot that’s due around the same time. In adults, Tdap can be given at any time, although it may be better to wait a few years if a tetanus booster was recently given.

Influenza: Influenza is much more likely to result in hospitalization and death in the elderly than in young persons. As many as 35,000 excess geriatric deaths due to pneumonia and influenza occur during influenza epidemics each year. Medicare  expenditures for excess hospitalizations due to influenza are estimated to exceed $1 billion each year.

 

The wages of sin . . .

are sometimes an angry cat.

Windmills and solar power

After 100 billion in subsidies, windmills and solar power combined amount to less than 4% of the energy we use. Both are so inefficient that they only exist because they get billions in subsidies from you. Fossil fuels get subsides too, but wind and solar get 100 times more. John Stossel

 

“The Federal government has set an ambitious goal of '20% wind power by 2030,' and generous subsidies targeted at every segment of American society have been set in place.

State subsidies for wind power are equally generous and can often be combined with Federal programs resulting, in some instances, in government funding equivalent to 80% of a wind power system's total cost.

Subsidies range from Direct Federal Grants, ITC's (Investment Tax Credits) and PTC's (Production Tax Credits) to a myriad of State Grants, Rebates and Tax Credits available to all tax-payers, ranging from your family to Fortune 500 corporations.” http://www.massmegawatts.com/government-subsidies-finance.php

Solar Financing, Subsidies and Incentives

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/05/30/solar-power-subsidies-were-too-large-too-fast/

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/11/14/solar-isnt-the-only-subsidized-energy-source/

“Subsidies go primarily to the rich. While subsidies allow owners to pay off the cost over time, up-front costs put solar panels out of reach for most people. Subsidies take money from working-class families and give it to people who can afford high, up-front capital costs.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2013/11/14/solar-subsidies-take-money-from-the-poor-to-help-the-rich/

Hobby Lobby and the HHS Mandate

The month after Christmas—author unknown

'Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house ...
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste at the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales
there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as only I can
" You can't spend a winter disguised as a man! "

So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chips
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
" Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want to chew only on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!"