Today's household tips

1. When blogging, put the visiting dog in your lap to stop the barking.

2. Don't lick a slotted spoon.

3. Wear an apron when preparing beets.

4. Repairmen never have the parts with them and require a trip to the hardware store which adds to the time. But that's not a good reason to keep 50 bazillion pieces parts in jars and cans in the basement storage area.

5. Masking liquid (for painting white in watercolor) does not come out of carpets, but there is some hope for the furniture once it dries (just rub it off).

6. Have an extra key or two made and keep them at the neighbors.

7. Learn your daughter's unlisted phone number.

8. Owning a home is not an investment, it's a place to bury money you'll probably never see again.

9. If your cat develops a sneeze, your nice furniture and clothing are toast. Don't waste your money on cures, or changing cat food. Keep Kleenex handy.

10. If you like to make lists, don't run out before #10 or it won't look tidy.

The sin of envy

We fight one another, and envy arms us against one another. ... If everyone strives to unsettle the Body of Christ, where shall we end up? We are engaged in making Christ's Body a corpse. ... We declare ourselves members of one and the same organism, yet we devour one another like beasts 

St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 2 Cor. 27,3-4:PG 61,588

I was looking through contemporary sermons (mostly audio which is difficult) on Sermon Cloud, http://www.sermoncloud.com/, but since the early church struggled with it from the beginning, I think this was one of the best.  “arms us against one another. . .making Christ’s body a corpse.”

St. John Chrysostom was a "golden-voiced" orator and one of the 8 great Doctors of the Church (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus).

49% drop in gun homicide—but who knew?

There's no consensus on why gun homicide has decreased almost 50% in the last 20 years--aging population, more criminals in jail and off the streets, some kooks think it is all the aborted children who might have grown up to be criminals. But one thing is for sure, the media have been very quiet about the drop as gun ownership and population increase, and you'll never hear about it from the anti-second amendment folks like our president. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/07/gun-homicide-rate-down-49-since-1993-peak-public-unaware/

• In 2010, there were 3.6 gun homicides per 100,000 people, compared with 7.0 in 1993, according to CDC data.
• In 2010, CDC data counted 11,078 gun homicide deaths, compared with 18,253 in 1993.⁵
• Men and boys make up the vast majority (84% in 2010) of gun homicide victims. The firearm homicide rate also is more than five times as high for males of all ages (6.2 deaths per 100,000 people) as it is for females (1.1 deaths per 100,000 people).
• By age group, 69% of gun homicide victims in 2010 were ages 18 to 40, an age range that was 31% of the population that year. Gun homicide rates also are highest for adults ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 40.
• A disproportionate share of gun homicide victims are black (55% in 2010, compared with the 13% black share of the population). Whites were 25% of victims but 65% of the population in 2010. Hispanics were 17% of victims and 16% of the population in 2010.
• The firearm suicide rate (6.3 per 100,000 people) is higher than the firearm homicide rate and has come down less sharply. The number of gun suicide deaths (19,392 in 2010) outnumbered gun homicides, as has been true since at least 1981.

Why is all this happening?

“The Crimea is gone. Ukraine is in danger of Russian domination. Syria and Libya are in turmoil. Egypt is a basket case. We are "negotiating" with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Iraq is being overrun. The EU is in decline even as the the power of China and Russia is growing. Traditional allies of American do not trust us any longer - and for good reason - America can no longer project its power, nor is it willing to do so. America's southern border is being assaulted by illegal immigrants that we can't take care of because we are broke - a debtor nation.

Why?

The world is in chaos today for one reason. It is due to the policies enacted by the progressive Democrat Party and their leader . . .”

Michael Smith at his Facebook page.

The VA scandal hasn’t gone away

“The VA scandal is like cancer: It doesn’t go away, it just gets worse when we aren’t looking… The Obama Administration’s self-made crises with the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap and the new wave of underage illegal immigration knocked the VA scandal out of the news. But it was like hitting your head with a hammer to take your mind off your broken leg. And Heaven help you if you need VA treatment for either of those things. While the media were distracted, a new VA audit revealed that delayed care for veterans is even worse than we thought. Over 57,000 veterans have been waiting at least 90 days for their first visit with a VA doctor. Over the past decade, another 64,000 vets enrolled, requested a doctor’s appointment, and never even got one. And out of 731 VA hospitals reviewed, 73 percent showed evidence of fraud to cover up the lack of care. The White House is rushing to provide care for all the illegal border crossers. How about an equal sense of urgency to provide care for our veterans?” Mike Huckabee

Safer sex?

I volunteer at a free clinic, and when my tasks are finished, I read the literature. Here's a brochure on STIs and condoms that I thought was interesting. Condoms don't reduce STIs at all for oral sex, and increase the risk for HIV; condoms during anal sex may decrease your risk for rectal chlamydia and cut your chance of getting HIV by up to half; condoms used every time can cut your chance of HPV by up to 70% (HPV causes cervical cancer and causes about the same number of deaths as HIV/AIDS every year); use of condoms every time can cut your chance of genital herpes by about 30%, but once you're infected you have it for life; using condoms every time can cut your chance of getting chlamydia or gonorrhea by about half; using condoms every time can cut your chance of getting HIV by about 85%--it kills about half a million a year. Only about 2/3 of sexually active teens use condoms, and as males age, they use them even less. All these odds assume correct usage and no breakage.

Now my question is, how many people would fly or drive with these odds of arriving safely?

And I have the references to the research if you need it.

The Medical Institute

Forgive for your own sake, if nothing else

Brat defeats Cantor, but that’s not the shocker

I'm not so shocked that someone who believes in free markets and our constitution could win a place on the ballot with almost no money--I'm stunned that you can find someone like that in academe, the least diverse place in the country for the last 4 decades.

This has never happened in our history—that a House majority leader would be defeated in his party’s primary.

The mess at our border

Have you seen the photos of the "unaccompanied children" (abandoned? kidnapped?) being dropped off in Arizona and other southern states? Most aren't Mexicans--their immigration rules are stricter than the U.S. They are mostly from Central America and not welcome in Mexico. They are dark skinned, some indigenous people, some mixed-race, flooding north because opportunities for education and a comfortable life style are limited in their home countries. In their countries the... power structure in business and government is mostly white European or Mestizo. Rather than provide opportunity for all, Central America and Mexico just push their bi-racial and indigenous people north. It would be like the U.S. rounding up anyone 1/8th or more African heritage, unemployed or underemployed, and sending them to Canada or Mexico with the message that we have no job growth or opportunities because of regressive-socialist government policies, so maybe someone else can handle it.

"If the Obama administration put half the effort into securing our border as it has invested to institute this operation, our state and nation would not be facing this situation," Gov. Jan Brewer (AZ) said.

Republican candidates in search of votes, are doing their usual limp spine tap dance, instead of speaking up for what is right for American citizens, particularly our minority population who will have to compete for jobs and college slots with these newcomers.

“More likely, the migration is a result of ambivalent immigration policy that is sending mixed signals abroad. While the Obama administration has deported a record 2 million people, the administration has also extended a compassionate arm to undocumented children. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a widespread belief in Central America that if kids can survive the treacherous journey and get across that border somehow, they will be allowed to stay.”

 http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/08/6464441/editorial-the-international-crisis.html?storylink=lingospot#storylink=cpy

New exercise plan

Obama has created this cruel crisis

They're calling it a "humanitarian crisis." 150,000 unaccompanied children crossing our border into Arizona and Texas? Who created this? How are they getting across the border? And how did they get into Mexico from Central America, since most aren't Mexicans (a country with very strict laws about this)? Obama gave the message 2 years ago that they wouldn't be turned back if they came before 2007, but somehow that year got left out of the message and what anxious parents who want a better life for their kids wouldn't think they'd better act now and enter the U.S. and take advantage of the social welfare benefits and education opportunities. The Democrats want this chaos so they can clobber the GOP on immigration issues. I wonder if they started the rumors and hired the drivers. Children don't leave mom and dad on their own and decide to go to America.

http://riograndeguardian.com/bordernews_story.asp?story_no=23

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/09/lawmakers-fault-lax-obama-immigration-policies-for-calamity-in-arizona/

http://www.glennbeck.com/2014/06/09/did-the-obama-administration-engineer-a-humanitarian-crisis-on-the-border-to-push-a-progressive-agenda/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/

“In recent weeks, a tide of young, unaccompanied minors crossing the Texas border illegally has pushed the US immigration system to its breaking point. Unable to cope with the volume of children crossing the border without their parents, immigration authorities have had to find emergency solutions, such as housing thousands in a San Antonio Air Force base, a California Navy base, and a makeshift detention center in Nogales, AZ.'”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2014/0608/Illegal-immigration-how-humanitarian-crisis-on-border-could-hurt-Obama-video

These children have not been vaccinated; have no documents; they are too young to be without their parents; they can be victims of violence.

“More likely, the migration is a result of ambivalent immigration policy that is sending mixed signals abroad. While the Obama administration has deported a record 2 million people, the administration has also extended a compassionate arm to undocumented children. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a widespread belief in Central America that if kids can survive the treacherous journey and get across that border somehow, they will be allowed to stay. “

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/08/6464441/editorial-the-international-crisis.html#storylink=cpy

Does this bother you?

The new student loan bail out

Today I was watching a program on college student debt, graduates living with their parents, and Obama to step in with yet another government solution. This is so counter productive. 1) Grow the economy and get them employed; 2) stop funneling money for loans so colleges won't continue to raise tuition and fees at the feed trough. Also, I don't know a single recent graduate (who chose a smart degree field) that isn't employed and whittling down his debt without my help.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/08/pf/college/obama-student-loans/

I don't expect the government to "create" the jobs that would help the college students pay down their debt, move out of mom's basement, get married, buy a home, etc. But I do expect the federal government to stop making it so difficult for investors to help the entrepreneurs, to stop adding burdens with new EPA regulations and health care taxes that discourage expansion, and stop making it easier for the underemployed to stay that way through transfer payments.

A message from the Master

Remember the Folger’s ads?

Petty conservatives

Ridiculing Obama because of his weights work out or for chewing gum. Come on folks. Stick to the important policy/political stuff.

Our presidents need to stay fit. I didn't remember this incident from Nov. 2004, but it seems President Bush rescued his own Secret Service agent.

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/president_bush_aids_secret_service_agent_/

Kicking a gift horse in the teeth

Last year Wal-Mart donated $3 million to New York City charities, including $1 million to the New York Women’s Foundation, which offers job training, and $30,000 to Bailey House, which distributes groceries to low-income residents. It’s donated some $22.5 million all across New York state. In 2011, it donated $4 million to a city program that offers summer jobs to young people and since 2004 it has donated $16 million to the city’s charter schools. But corporate good will flies in the face of progressives' agenda so NYC Council has order Wal-Mart to stop. Meanwhile, unemployment and poverty in NYC is way above the national average, and under the leftist regime of De Blasio I suspect will get worse.

http://247wallst.com/retail/2014/06/07/new-york-city-ensures-no-good-deed-wal-mart-does-will-go-unpunished/#ixzz3447pq2rV

Wal-Mart the company and foundation gave more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions during 2012, a record for Wal-Mart or any retailer. If De Blasio doesn't want the money, maybe your organization could use it.

http://foundation.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/local-giving

Jobless rate holds steady at 6.3%

After reading the butterfly kisses account of the “recovering economy” in the Washington Post (all jobs lost during the recession are back, and oh yes, labor participation rate is the lowest since 1978) I scanned through the comments.  Noticed this realistic one—can’t tell if the writer is left, right or middle, but s/he has obviously lost the rose colored glasses the government economists have been passing out for 5 years.

I think most of us are smart enough not to swallow the government data on job growth, rising home prices, or the brainless comment that "“we’re in the clear for the second quarter,” or any other data they throw at us. We're not as gullible as they think we are...we live in the REAL world, not from their fantasy realm in some ivory tower where they look down their noses at the working classes and fudge the numbers to make their assessments look good. How do they sleep at night?

Wonk blog, Washington Post

Here’s what an Obama recovery with added taxes, regulations, bank bail outs and crazy “cash for clunkers” looks like: 2.5years longer than any other recovery since WWII.

Is Obama inept?

Unlike many conservatives who think Obama is a bad leader, dumb, crazy or inept, I tend toward the view he is deliberately trying to destroy the economy.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/article/379654/obama-just-trying-tank-economy-stephen-moore#!

Raise minimum wage above market levels like FDR did (and half a million blacks lost their jobs); go around the Congress that voted the latest EPA regulations down because they realized what it would do to the economy; promote abortion in a country whose birth rate is already below replacement; encourage weak borders and nice perks for illegals so the non-existent citizens that were aborted can be replaced by outsiders; dumb down the education system so we can't compete in the world economy; destroy the best health care system in the world and make it even more expensive; allow a bloated bureaucracy to run the government and claim it's a complete mystery how these scandals got "whipped up."

No, that doesn't sound like a dumb or inept man--only dumb voters.

The Cool Whip President

He's being called the "cool whip President." He referred to the Bergdahl swap as "a whipped up controversy." Really, Mr. President?  It’s just a golf cliché?  "What difference does it make?" retorted Harry Reid, echoing Hillary Clinton on Benghazi. What a low opinion they have of Americans and our military and families who have lost family members. As Jonathan Turley said, "He's the president Richard Nixon always wanted to be."

PRESIDENT OBAMA in press conference in Brussels: I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington, all right?  [Actually he probably was surprised and shocked—he has no understanding of the American people.] That’s — that’s par for the course. But I’ll repeat what I said two days ago. We have a basic principle. We do not leave anybody wearing the American uniform behind [notice how he clarified in uniform so he can exclude an ambassador and his body guards]. We had a prisoner of war [who walked away or deserted and possibly has converted to Islam]  whose health had deteriorated [they threatened to kill him after 5 years?] and we were deeply concerned about. And we saw an opportunity and we seized it. And I make no apologies for that [No apologies for Fast and Furious, NSA snooping, IRS illegal targeting of conservatives, VA wait lists, going a round Congress after it defeated Cap and Trade, releasing information of CIA chief in Afghanistan, Benghazi deaths and gun running to Syria, supporting Arab spring, and so on].

We had discussed with Congress [in 2011] the possibility that something like this might occur. But because of the nature of the folks that we were dealing with [and the Republican House]  and the fragile nature of these negotiations, we felt it was important to go ahead [against the law he signed requiring 30 days notice]  and do what we did. And we’re now explaining [after the fact, because he’s King] to Congress the details of how we moved forward.