Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood

You've heard a lot about Hobby Lobby. The other company is Conestoga Wood, owned my Mennonites. The ACA mandate includes a long list of contraceptives, 3 of which are abortifacients, which the owners of both companies object to, but they have no problem with the others (as a Catholic group might). They believe that providing drugs that can prevent embryos from implanting in the womb would make their companies complicit in a form of abortion. Obama has already exempted non-profits from this mandate, and of course has personally changed the law over 20 times to suit his Democrat supporters and those running for office this fall.  Freedom of religion for Obama means your religion stops at the church door.  He’s confused it with freedom of worship.

More than you’ll ever want to know about implantation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implantation_(human_embryo)

American royalty deserves the best?

Bossy, aren’t they?

The pro-choicers are bossy enough to say "Not my boss's business."  But they do want the boss to be very involved in their business when it comes to paying for birth control. The two companies they are protesting today do pay for birth control in their employees' insurance plans, but object to abortifacient types which prevent a fertilized egg from implanting. There are two schools of thought on this--life begins at conception, or life begins at implantation--and each view has scientific research to support their viewpoint. http://www.lifenews.com/2013/11/18/undisputed-scientific-fact-human-life-begins-at-conception-or-fertilization/

She cried the day she realized she was a Republican

“Michelle Obama, while on her multi-million dollar "vacation" with an entourage of 70 people, tells the ChiComs How America Used to Discriminate Against People Like Her and Her Husband. - and yet it seems they have Stockholm Syndrome. I love how Rush put it today, RUSH: "I really wonder if Michelle Obama knows that you can't even move from the country into a city in China unless you have a permit and that getting a permit is dependent on many things which are discriminatory. . .  I wonder also if Michelle Obama even knows that every single one of these laws that discriminated against blacks like her and her husband were written, enacted, and enforced by Democrats, every damn one of them."

I believe it was Einstein who once said: It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. - I can somewhat attest to that. I remember the day I realized I had been duped, fooled, hoodwinked etc.  I was mad but I also had to choose to accept or reject the truth. We each have the choose to dig in our heels and be stuck on stupid (or more kindly, willful ignorance) or admit we were wrong and move on. Shoot I even cried the day I realized I was a Republican, lol. After the years of conditioning it is hard to admit to being fooled but I would rather that than live my life as a fool.”  ~ Ayesha Kreutz, President, www.fdfny.org  Shared on Face Book

Putin is so frightened

I was watching Obama stammer and stutter at a news conference addressing Putin's aggression repeating the same old same old "there will be consequences" drivel, and couldn't help remembering when he had half the nation, all of Europe and Peggy Noonan swooning over how articulate and eloquent he was. He was like the visiting preacher in 2006--had one sermon in his pocket and Democrats had a come to Jesus moment. He's beginning to make GW Bush look like the most fluent engaging president we ever had.

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/03/25/us-allies-seek-to-isolate-russia-moscow-shrugs

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/25/obama-doubts-russian-retreat-ukraine/

Some networks edit his speeches and comments so he sounds better.

What if crosses my mind.

Gloria Steinem is 80!? When a pro-abortion feminist who has built a career on eliminating other humans’ possibilities, tiny, vulnerable and helpless, has a birthday I always wonder, what if. . .

Former Toledoan and Playboy bunny, she’s the one who said if men could become pregnant abortion would be a sacrament.  She coined the term, “reproductive freedom.”   As it is, abortion is a plank in the Democratic party platform, and for them has become if not a sacrament, at least the foundation for all their victim wailing and weeping, lying and cheating.  No rights or freedom for 56 million dead Americans, but she’s a big advocate for animal rights.

Two scary things—both concerning Obamacare

1) Matt Drudge, American tax payer, seems to know more about the requirements of Obamacare than the administration--he pays taxes quarterly for his business which means 2014 taxes (including his penalty) are due this calendar year, not in 2015;

2) Obama WH staff would be so bold as to attack a private American citizen on Twitter. We all know it's a difficult law, constantly being changed by the President's executive orders, and for that reason, his staff needs to not show their ignorance. I Googled through a few pages of stories, and this does not show for the Obamedia.

Then other leftist sites piled on Drudge.  To my knowledge, even though they’ve been proven wrong, none have taken down their misinformation.

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/03/24/white-house-staffer-calls-matt-drudge-liar-after-he-tweets-about-paying-obamacare-penalty

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/03/21/White-House-Leads-Liberal-Media-In-Matt-Drudge-Attack

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/drudge-individual-mandate-liberty-tax

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/03/22/matt-drudge-pays-liberty-tax-obamacare-opt-out-penalty-wh-liberal-press-attack-him-107869

Imagining America—sounds great, but isn’t

“Imagining America was founded at a 1999 White House Conference initiated by the White House Millennium Council, the University of Michigan, and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Conference participants became the basis for what was to become the group’s “consortium” of 100-plus colleges and universities. The group was initially hosted by the University of Michigan. Syracuse University took over in 2007 as IA’s temporary home, and will remain host through 2017.

Radical Objectives

Like many radical groups, Imagining America (its full name is Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life) couches its goals in soothing, innocuous-sounding prose.”

Read more about Imaging America.

How the New Yorker cartoons are chosen

Monday Memories—When Dad got a job at 80

My memory may be a little hazy (my siblings will set me straight), but I think Dad retired the first time when he was about 55 and sold his fuel oil business to his cousin.  He puttered and figitted and looked out the front window for awhile, then started working again.  I know for awhile he drove an oil tanker—had to join the teamsters, which was a big family laugh since he was anti-union.  Then he was a security guard for awhile at one of the Rockford hospitals.  I recall him telling some stories, but not enough of the details to report them. 

Then he started another business, Agri-Bolt, selling equipment parts to farmers for their large equipment.  A box of bolts would be installed in the barn for easy access and Dad would periodically stop by and refill it, then bill the owner.  Eventually, probably in his 70s, he gave that up too. He would walk 5-10 miles a day and help Mom with her guest home on the family farm, but he’d run out of things to do.

When he was about 80 (or maybe 83) he noticed an ad for a salesman for a bolt company, so he applied.  By that time, it was illegal to ask a potential employee his age, so they hired him.  They found out his age because it was required on some other type of form to list his birthdate, perhaps insurance. 1913.  And then he got employee of the month (or year) for being highest in sales.  Years later I was visiting him when a young man stopped by to see him—the owner of that business who still kept in touch after he’d retired from that job.

Sometimes I think he worked just to prove a point that anyone can get a job. . . even an old man.

                      

Dad would be 101 today.

Strawberry Butter Cream Cake

We’re having our couples group on Saturday evening; might try this.

• 1 (18.25-ounce) Package white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) Package strawberry gelatin
• 4 Large eggs
• ½ Cup sugar
• ½ Cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
• ½ Cup milk
• ½ Cup Vegetable oil
• 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
• Strawberry Butter cream Frosting (see below)
• Garnish with whole and halved strawberries
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cake mix, strawberry gelatin, eggs, sugar, chopped fresh strawberries, milk, vegetable oil and all-purpose flour at low speed with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Scrape down sides, and beat at medium speed for 2 more minutes, stopping to scrape down sides, as needed. (The Strawberries should be well blended.)
2. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes, or until cakes spring back when pressed lightly with a finger. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely (about 1 hour.)
4. Spread the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with whole and halved strawberries. Serve immediately, or chill for up to 1 week.
To make ahead: Prepare recipe as directed. Chill, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until frosting is set. Cover well with wax paper, and store in refrigerator up to a week.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
• 1 Cup butter, softened
• (32-ounce) Package powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 Cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
Preparation
1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy (about 20 seconds). Add sugar and strawberries, beating at low speed until creamy. (Add more sugar if frosting is too thin, or add strawberries if too thick.)

Racist?

20+ changes to the ACA

Governments hate competition that improves people’s lives

Michigan teachers’ union wants to hire non-Christians

The Michigan Education Association teachers’ union contract, which took effect in 2011 and was recently extended to 2017, mandates that the school district favor non-Christian teachers when making hiring decisions:

Regarding promotion to a vacant position, it states on page 22:

“Should there be two (2) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications for the position and one (1) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications is a current employee, the current employee with the greatest seniority shall be assigned. Special consideration shall be given to women and/or minority defined as: Native American, Asian American, Latino, African American and those of the non-Christian faith. However, in all appointments to vacant positions, the Board’s decision shall be final.”

Can you imagine a woman being a “minority” in the teaching profession?

Rev. Carl E. Myers

I learned today from my niece of the death of Rev. Carl E. Myers, the minister who married us in the Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren in 1960. His brother, Richard Myers, who was my high school English teacher, also played the organ at our wedding. One of the loveliest memories I have of Carl is his singing around the campfire at Camp Emmaus. He had given the meditation and then stood up and sang "Sweet Little Jesus boy." He had a wonderful voice. I last saw him in 2002 at my father's funeral, but we had a photo taken with him in 1999. His wife Doreen died about 2 years ago. The were residents in their last years at Timbercrest Senior Living in North Manchester, Indiana.

Even President Obama used to call it Obamacare. What happened?

“We passed Obamacare — yes, I like the term — we passed it because I do care, and I want to put these choices in your hands where they belong,” Obama said at a typical stop in Iowa last October.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/barack-obama-obamacare-affordable-care-act-health-care-law-100034.html#ixzz2wiqOnaIU

 

 

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/obama-embraces-the-term-obamacare/1#.Uy3mnLNOXjQ

Obamacare law is four years old today

On Sunday, March 21, 2010, exactly four years ago today, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the complicated legislation that established what came to be known as Obamacare. The vote was 219 to 212 to approve the measure, with every Republican voting no. Before the vote, Democrats hailed the "historic" moment, while Republicans warned their colleagues of disastrous consequences. On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA's individual mandate as an exercise of Congress's taxing power

- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/flashback-obamacare-largest-legislative-transfer-power-executive-branch#sthash.lneSDHuu.dpuf

Worse than it looks

Less than 400,000 of the African slave trade came to the future United States.  Most went to South America and the Caribbean Islands. But the 13 million?  Those all belong to us.

This and That Thursday

So, it's the first day of Spring. Over the noise of the furnace fan this morning I could hear birds outside calling me and when I took the trash out I found one tiny yellow flower

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My husband is enjoying the good life in California with his sister , so I made a wonderful salad of several dark greens, onions, olives, tomatoes and the left over corned beef. He's probably at some ridiculously expensive restaurant. Or on Deb's patio.

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Quantitative easing has apparently ended (it's what made the rich even richer during the Obama reign), so the stock market took a swim in the quick sand today. Good luck fellow retirees, our pensions are in for a bumpy ride.

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I heard an ad for the new Noah movie today that was really a disclaimer--"based on the book of Genesis with artistic license." I guess so since about 98% of Christians familiar with it have panned it. It's not a story about overpopulation and the environment, but the movie is. Hollywood has discovered religious people like to buy tickets for movies with sound values and non-embarrassing themes, but this sounds like a bust.

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Abortion enthusiasts are selling silver necklaces with little coat hangers.  How cute. Coat hanger abortions are a myth, and always have been. And if it were true, those who do it, are pro-choice, not pro-life.

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Our noon Lenten service at UALC Lytham Rd.  was poorly attended. Too many regulars skipped worship to watch the Buckeyes get defeated in basketball. Some even skipped the Bible study!