Christians flee ISIS

“UN officials said an estimated 200,000 new refugees were seeking sanctuary in the Kurdish north from Islamic extremists who had pursued them since the weekend. The city of Qaraqosh, south-east of Mosul, home to around 50,000 Christians was the latest to fall, with most residents fleeing before dawn as convoys of extremists drew near.

Other Christian towns near Mosul, including Tel Askof, Tel Keif and Qaramless have also largely been emptied. Those who remained behind have reportedly been given the same stark choice given to other minorities, including Yazidis: flee, convert to Islam, or be killed.

Christians, Yazidis and Turkmen have been at the frontlines of Iraq's war with the Islamic State (Isis) ever since the jihadist group stormed into Mosul and Tikrit and mid-June. The Iraqi army capitulated within hours, with at least 60,000 officers and soldiers fleeing on the first day of the assault alone.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/isis-offensive-iraq-christian-exodus

Quoting a UNICEF spokesperson, the Washington Post reports today: “There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads. There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by Islamic State. It’s a disaster, a total disaster.”  Not to worry.  The Obama administration made a statement. “The United States is committed to helping the people of Iraq as they confront. . . and so forth.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/384773/1500-iraqi-civilians-were-slaughtered-yesterday-isis-and-obama-administration-issued

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28686998

How to ride a dead horse—the church version

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians—passed on from generation to generation—says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

Modern churches, however, have found a whole range of far more advanced strategies to use, such as:

1.     Buying a stronger whip.

2.     Changing riders.

3.     Declaring, “God told us to ride this horse.”

4.     Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5.     Threatening the horse with termination.

6.     Proclaiming, “This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse.”

7.     Develop a training session to improve our riding ability.

8.     Reminding ourselves that other churches ride this same kind of horse.

9.     Determining that riders who don’t stay on dead horses are lazy, lack drive, and have no ambition - then replacing them.

10.  Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

11.  Reclassifying the horse as “living-impaired.”

12.  Hiring an outside consultant to advise on how to better ride the horse.

13.  Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.

14.  Confessing boldy, “This horse is not dead, but alive!”

15.  Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse’s performance.

16.  Riding the dead horse “outside the box.”

17.  Get the horse a Web site.

18.  Killing all the other horses so the dead one doesn’t stand out.

19.  Taking a positive outlook – pronouncing that the dead horse doesn’t have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the church’s budget than do some other horses.

20.  Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

21.  Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

22.  Name the dead horse, “paradigm shift” and keep riding it.

23.  Riding the dead horse “smarter, not harder.”

24.  Stating that other horses reflect compromise, and are not from God.

25.  Remembering all the good times you had while riding that horse.

Sources for this version

The Obama Blues

“Why the long downhill slide for the Obama presidency?

Short answer: He has talked his way into it.”  Daniel Henninger, WSJ

Is it really a “gift” to make all sides think he agrees with them?  Isn’t that classic passive aggressive?

"A cranial gong goes off when Barack Obama starts droppin' "g's." The American president who is seen discoursing eloquently at the African leaders summit hits the stump and suddenly he sounds like Gabby Hayes. "Folks like you are havin' a hard time makin' it when the wealthiest are grabbin' it all in for themselves." . . . "Stop bein' mad all the time. Stop just hatin' all the time." He is a politician talking his way to an approval rating in the presidential red zone that lies below 40." Daniel Henninger

We are stewards of God’s creation

On the one hand, I think we’ve made wonderful progress, using the old term,  on environmentalism.  We started vacationing on Lake Erie in 1974, and it was just beginning to turn around. Automobiles—huge improvement, as also appliances. Many of these changes have come about because of pressure groups and modest increment in government regulations.  However, climate change/global warming are a different animal.  They are primarily a dislike for modern society, and a longing for a purity in the past that never really existed (usually we think conservatives live in the past, but on this it is the opposing team). The EPA regulations are increasingly economy killers.  And also harmful to the environment.  Burning corn to fuel autos is not only bad for the environment, but causes deforestation in South America, hunger in other parts of the world and air pollution.  This is not a current administration problem, I think it was Bush’s EPA, or maybe Clinton (these things start small and grow). Certain groups see global weather changes every where and use it as an excuse to stop economic growth. There’s not been much change in the last 2 decades, and they see that as evidence of change!  Most scary to me is the reported solar flares of 2012 which could have destroyed our civilization as we know it because we’re so dependent on technology, and no one could have done a thing about it. Earth missed the solar storm by one week.  Whew.  That was close. Someone must have been praying—was it you?  Maybe God decided we needed another chance. As a Christian I see the whole climate change/earth worship as a desire to feel some control in an increasingly senseless world; others see it as a take over by a one world government. Here’s a link to our near miss.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/tech/2012-solar-storm/index.html

There's been no warming for over a decade. Could be another long cold spell. We could be heading for another 17th century cold spell. But this time we have technology on our side. Assuming some government power broker doesn't kill it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/solar-lull-little-ice-age-sun-scientists_n_4645248.html

How's that working out for us, Mr. Krauthammer?

Charles Krauthammer says he would legalize 11 million illegal aliens in exchange for a secure border. Checking the 1986 law, I see that was the deal then. Legalize 3 million, but have tougher border security. That's how we got to 11 million. "Public Law 99-603 (Act of 11/6/86), which was passed in order to control and deter illegal immigration to the United States. Its major provisions stipulate legalization of undocumented aliens who had been continuously unlawfully present since 1982, legalization of certain agricultural workers, sanctions for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, and increased enforcement at U.S. borders." Homeland Security.

In addition to messing up the brain, it isn’t too great for the lungs

There are 33 cancer-causing chemicals contained in marijuana. Marijuana smoke also deposits tar into the lungs.

http://www.lung.org/associations/states/colorado/tobacco/marijuana.html

“Marijuana is a drug made from the dry, shredded parts of the Cannabis sativa hemp plant.  It is usually smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes called joints, in pipes, or in water pipes called bongs. It is also smoked in blunts, which are hollowed-out cigars filled with a mixture of tobacco and marijuana.

Marijuana contains a potent chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC. It’s very similar to chemicals that the brain naturally produces, and disrupts the function of these chemicals in the brain.
Marijuana today is more potent than marijuana of past decades. For a long time THC levels averaged 2.3 percent. Today, average THC levels are higher than 8 percent and can go up to 35 percent in medical marijuana.”

Yes, you can eat on SNAP allotment—but you don’t need to

A very nice cookbook you can download. The idea is tasteful, healthy meals on $4/day, although SNAP was never intended to be the full budget for food, but a supplement, it can be done. http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/

Broccoli and Cheddar Empanadas (makes 12)

Dough

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

½ cup cornmeal

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter

1 egg

1/2 cup cold water

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Filling

8 cups broccoli, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

½ tsp chili flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 egg (for brushing)

See the website for instructions on preparations.

Water wasn’t the only story in Toledo last week

Unsafe and unsanitary conditions in Toledo’s last abortion clinic and no agreement with a hospital.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/07/31/state-orders-toledos-last-clinic-to-close.html

This has been dragging on for some time through appeals.

This week at Lakeside—7th week

Had a great bird walk this morning at Lakeside Chautauqua led by Judy Sudomir who teaches environmental science at ?? college, and her father-in-law, Bill. Most of our purple martins have already left for Brazil, but we saw many congregating and regrouping from other areas. Next Wednesday we are going to Magee Marsh to see bird banding, and I think we'll be caravanning from the parking lot around 8:30 if you are interested. Here’s a nice blog by a Canadian who birded at Magee and saw 23 warblers.

Although I'm not a member of the Women's Club at Lakeside,  I do appreciate their programs, and yesterday enjoyed the presentation by Benjamin Lloyd, composer and former second violinist with the Lakeside Symphony Orchestra. I'd seen him for years on stage, and it was fascinating to hear him explain how he has written the 4th movement of his Second Symphony (Life). The main theme is "I choose to live" and with computer software that probably only musicians understand, he showed us how the theme is transcribed into symphonic form. He also does classical music commissions for special events like weddings and anniversaries.

I've never been particularly crazy about the Carpenters music, but loved the retrospective by Helen Welch last night at Hoover Auditorium. I'd forgotten how great some of those songs were and really appreciated how she explained each one.

The wind was brisk this morning on the bird walk, and now my throat is scratchy.  ;-(

Looking for a comfortable, casual shoe

I have a pair of Clarks and like them a lot.  These look good. About $65 on sale. Style is Ashland Rivers.

Do the Jews have a right to Israel?

When speaking at the United Nations, a representative from Israel started by saying:

"Before I begin my speech, I want to tell you a story about Moses. One day when Moses wanted a bath he struck a large rock

and brought forth water. Then Moses removed his robe, put it on the rock, and entered the water.
When he finished his bath, he got out of the water and discovered his robe had vanished. A Palestinian had stolen his robe!"

Just then a Palestinian representative to the UN jumped up and shouted angrily, "You lie, Jew! Palestinians weren't there then."

The Israeli representative smiled and said, "Now that we have established that fact, I will begin my speech.

Zionism—if you hate it, you probably also hate Jews

Main line churches need to wake up and recognize something ugly in their midst.

“Elsewhere in the world, indigenous languages are dying out, forests are being decimated, and the populations of industrialized nations are plummeting. Yet Zionism revived the Hebrew language, which is now more widely spoken than Danish and Finnish and will soon surpass Swedish. Zionist organizations planted hundreds of forests, enabling the land of Israel to enter the 21st century with more trees than it had at the end of the 19th. And the family values that Zionism fostered have produced the fastest natural growth rate in the modernized world and history's largest Jewish community. The average secular couple in Israel has at least three children, each a reaffirmation of confidence in Zionism's future.”

http://online.wsj.com/articles/in-defense-of-zionism-1406918952?mod=trending_now_1

“Zionism has prospered in the supremely inhospitable—indeed, lethal—environment of the Middle East. Two hours' drive east of the bustling nightclubs of Tel Aviv—less than the distance between New York and Philadelphia—is Jordan, home to more than a half million refugees from Syria's civil war. Traveling north from Tel Aviv for four hours would bring that driver to war-ravaged Damascus or, heading east, to the carnage in western Iraq. Turning south, in the time it takes to reach San Francisco from Los Angeles, the traveler would find himself in Cairo's Tahrir Square.”

“Never mind that the Jews were natives of the land—its Arabic place names reveal Hebrew palimpsests—millennia before the Palestinians or the rise of Palestinian nationalism. Never mind that in 1937, 1947, 2000 and 2008, the Palestinians received offers to divide the land and rejected them, usually with violence. And never mind that the majority of Zionism's adherents today still stand ready to share their patrimony in return for recognition of Jewish statehood and peace.”

Sometimes you’re in a happy place, but it hurts

It’s Peace and Justice Week at Lakeside

I'm not at all interested in this week's educational offerings at Lakeside, so I think I'll make up my own schedule and work a little harder at my physical therapy. The Lakeside Women's Club at 1:30 on Tuesday has a violinist; there's a bird walk on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. and a history lecture about the Chautauqua movement at 3:30; there's a program about invasive carp at 1:30 on Friday, and the foreign affairs program at 2:30. Haven't done a tram tour in a number of years--might sign up for that.

If you are visiting friends and family in northwestern Ohio today, bring bottled water. Algae bloom and toxins in Lake Erie have contaminated Toledo's water supply. http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2014/08/03/Water-crisis-grips-area.html

Home from the book sale

Today was the Lakeside Women's Club book sale, and I found a signed, first edition book of poetry and sketches by a well known local artist, Ben Richmond, "Time Passages" for 50 cents. With just a bit of artistic license I changed a few words of this poem, hope he doesn’t mind:

Yes. . .it’s truly on days
Like this day
That I wish I were
Still just a papergirl . . .
Back in Forreston, Illinois.

Where my only problems
Were thick papers,
Rain, a few mean dogs,
A couple of grouchy people
And porches I couldn’t
Hit from the sidewalk.

(Ben was a paperboy in Columbus, Ohio, but you get the idea.)

Other purchases, Noah’s compass by Anne Tyler, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia, two No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels, The story of the Bahamas, by Paul Albury and a Spanish workbook.

Don’t miss the boat, there is still room

Humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians

God is good

Top 10 educated cities in the United States—Forbes

Before we on the list get too big headed, every one in our federal government has advanced degrees, and look at the messes they manage to get us into!

Highly educated communities also have a high marriage rate, good schools, great libraries, many churches, strong environmental controls and zoning laws, not so great public transportation so every household has multiple cars, and homes and rents too expensive for the average homeowner. In other words, the poor don’t move into the well-heeled, high educated communities. We moved here in June 1967 (Farleigh Road) and weren't aware that we weren't in Columbus.

The EMR boondoggle

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are a health mandate that was included in Obama's stimulus, ARRA in 2009 ($19 billion). There was no research; no evidence it would improve health; not a smidgen that EMR would reduce costs. But what a boon for IT companies which must have terrific lobbyists. Those doctors who were already computerized, had a do-over, with either a penalty or a reward for doing it. So what is EMR really good for? Data mining. 70,000 new codes. A caller to the Glenn Beck show today was reading some of the codes: this was priceless, "walking into a lamp post, first encounter" and "walking into a lamp post, second encounter." Another one had to do with an alien space craft. This will allow government bureaucrats to decide who gets the grants to decide where lamp posts should be, and who is crazy enough to get medical help after finding an alien space craft.

I had an appointment with a pulmonologist this week (I’ve been diagnosed with asthma, and they can’t find an inhaler I can tolerate), and the whole practice was in a uproar over their new computer system.  For a week they had coaches from some computer firm with them.  Last fall, I went through the same thing at my internist office; every thing has to be reentered, you sign a digital signature, and have your photo scanned into the system.  Lots of mischief when not only all your identifying information is residing in cyberspace but it’s linked to your photo and signature.  My internist’s office and the pulmonologist’s office records are not compatible, by the way.  I spoke to the doctor about EMR.  “Nothing but data mining,” he said.  “Useless for health care.”

http://focusonthepatient.com/2013/03/10/emrehr-monsters/

“Although the chief goal has been to improve efficiency and cut costs, a disappointing report published last week by the RAND Corp. found that electronic health records actually may be raising the nation’s medical bills. “ New York Times

“Despite the government’s bribe of nearly $27 billion to digitize patient records, nearly 70% of physicians say electronic health record (EHR) systems have not been worth it. It’s a sobering statistic backed by newly released data from marketing and research firm MPI Group and Medical Economics that suggest nearly two-thirds of doctors would not purchase their current EHR system again because of poor functionality and high costs.” Medical Economics