Syria is not Iraq

“The October 2002 joint congressional authorization to go to war was not just about fears of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Other worries prompted broad bipartisan support for the resolution. A majority of Democratic senators (as evidenced by their passionate speeches from the Senate floor) cited many of the resolution’s 23 writs. The latter were mostly concerned with things other than WMD: harboring terrorists, offering bounties for suicide bombers, giving refuge to at least one of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing suspects, committing genocide, attempting to kill a former U.S. president, and so on. Hillary Clinton should watch her own 2002 speech from the Senate floor.” Victor Davis Hanson

And here are all 23 writs (whereas. . . ) http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ243/html/PLAW-107publ243.htm

The price of beef

Dinner Sunday and Monday was beef roast, potatoes, onions and carrots in the crock pot, fresh fruit, and carrot cake (I also count that as a vegetable). I only mention this to tell you I was horrified to pay nearly $10 for just under 2 lbs of a rather tough stringy cut of beef. Let's stop burning corn in cars; it mucks up the environment and causes food prices to soar.

http://time.com/61393/beef-prices-record-high-since-1987/#61393/beef-prices-record-high-since-1987/

http://www.postcrescent.com/story/money/2014/08/09/meat-prices-soar/13797437/

Think Tanks

Robert Kennedy Jr. wants to imprison over half the nation for disagreeing with him

“Scientific knowledge, by its nature, cannot ever be said to be so “settled” as to justify the silencing of critics. Still, even were the debate over climate change in some way to be resolved in perpetuity, the prospect of incarcerating those who dissented would be no less grotesque.”

“The United States government, Kennedy lamented in an interview with Climate Depot, is not permitted by law to “punish” or to imprison those who disagree with him — and this, he proposed, is a problem of existential proportions. Were he to have his way, Kennedy admitted, he would cheer the prosecution of a host of “treasonous” figures — among them a number of unspecified “politicians”; those bêtes noires of the global Left, Kansas’s own Koch Brothers; “the oil industry and the Republican echo chamber”; and, for good measure, anybody else whose estimation of the threat posed by fossil fuels has provoked them into “selling out the public trust.” Those who contend that global warming “does not exist,” Kennedy claimed, are guilty of “a criminal offense — and they ought to be serving time for it.” “

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388595/robert-kennedy-jr-aspiring-tyrant-charles-c-w-cooke

Only 39.5% of 1,854 American Meteorological Society members who responded to a survey in 2012 said man-made global warming is dangerous.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303480304579578462813553136

Fake outrage as Democrat veterans attack Fox—are we surprised?

In a show of fake outrage, 60 veterans who work as Democrat politicians’ staff attacked a Fox News show, The Five,  in “An Open Letter to Fox News,”  because of a tasteless joke which the teller quickly had apologized for.

“Obama campaign workers, one ex-Obama White House aide, liberal activists, Democratic Party congressional candidates, Democratic Party state legislators, and more. The letter was sponsored by the Truman Project, a ten-year-old think tank with a focus on national security. Its board of directors includes Hunter Biden, the son of the Vice President. None of which was even whispered in the haughty “Open Letter” that was distributed to a media all too eager to go along with an attack on Fox News and two of the co-hosts on the Fox show The Five — Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfeld. Instead the letter was presented as a source of genuine outrage from average, non-partisan American veterans — while keeping the real identity of the signers secret.”

Add to this the 10 + a software program of Media Matters who have been bombarding advertisers about Rush Limbaugh and it is just more evidence of the left making a joke of free speech.

http://spectator.org/articles/60523/hit-job-fox-news

Faith based movies

The latte salute

Landmark $554 million settlement signed with Navajo Nation

The U.S. government has been bankrupting Indian nations for years through a bureaucracy that takes care of them cradle to grave. Native Americans who leave the reservation/tribe do just fine in income, careers and health. Not so those who live on the government teat. And it isn't just Bureau of Indian Affairs, it's also U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, and U.S. Department of Agriculture all of which have special and overlapping programs for native Americans. Their own schools, their own courts, their own police system, their own transportation and road system, their own child welfare agencies, their own medical service, plus all the foundations and charities that employ thousands "helping" the Indian. Truly, they are not treated like other Americans--they are over treated. And it hurts them, keeping them in child-like dependency, but with monetary gain for leaders and government employees.

“The $3.4 billion Cobell settlement, named for Elouise Cobell of Browning, Montana, resolves a class action lawsuit over billions of royalties lost from the accounts of individual Indians.”

http://www.nativetimes.com/index.php/news/federal/9470-payments-from-indian-trust-settlement-on-the-way

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865611873/Landmark-554-million-settlement-signed-between-feds-Navajo-Nation.html

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-holder-and-secretary-salazar-announce-1-billion-settlement-tribal-trust

Gone Girl

Haven’t read the book; won’t see the movie.  I’m not into thrillers.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/gone-girl-movie-reviews_n_5860538.html

http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2014/09/26/critics-agog-over-killer-gone-girl/

Every time we say good-bye

It's not too hard to find a movie I've never heard of, but last night I watched "Every time we say good-bye" with a very young Tom Hanks (1986). It was the time in his career as he was shifting from comedy to drama. It's a WWII romance that takes place in Israel and reviewers say it is predictable, but since I don't see many movies, I didn't think so. What makes this film somewhat more unusual is that about half is in Ladino with sub-titles, a Spanish based language spoken by Jews all over Spain, Eastern Europe and the middle east at one time. So I did have some fun researching that--I'd never heard of it. http://film.famousfix.com/tpx_624497/every-time-we-say-goodbye/

“Ladino, otherwise known as Judeo-Spanish, is the spoken and written Hispanic language of Jews of Spanish origin. Ladino did not become a specifically Jewish language until after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 - it was merely the language of their province. It is also known as Judezmo, Dzhudezmo, or Spaniolit.

When the Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal they were cut off from the further development of the language, but they continued to speak it in the communities and countries to which they emigrated. Ladino therefore reflects the grammar and vocabulary of 14th and 15th century Spanish. The further away from Spain the emigrants went, the more cut off they were from developments in the language, and the more Ladino began to diverge from mainstream Castilian Spanish. “

http://www.sephardicstudies.org/quickladino.html

“Since the Expulsion [1492], Ladino has been spoken in North Africa, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, France, Israel, the United States and Latin America. At one time, an estimated 80 percent of Diaspora Jews were Ladino-speaking. However, the Holocaust wiped out about 90 percent of all the world's Ladino-speakers.”

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1085545/jewish/Will-Ladino-Rise-Again.htm

“David: What language was that you were speaking?
Sarah: Spanish.
David: How did you and Victoria come to speak Spanish?
Sarah: It is what we speak at home.
David: Oh, your family came from Spain?
Sarah: Yes.
David: Recently?
Sarah: About 400 years.
David: They must have some good memories.” Quote from the movie of Sarah explaining her language to David.

50,000 waited 2 hours in the sun, many elderly

This morning I watched Pope Francis celebrate Holy Mass with the Elderly in St. Peter’s Square. It honored the elderly and grandparents. One couple was from Iraq, married 51 years, and had been driven from their home and city, Qaraqosh (of the Diocese of Mosul). Their church had been having services and tolling bells for 2,000 years and now ISIS has destroyed it. Very sad. About 50,000 people from more that 20 countries attended along with a number of elderly priests who were also being honored. Here is the official text of the homily, in which the Pope says the younger generations are impoverished if they don't have a connection with their elders. I don’t know how many were given out, but large print editions of Mark were being distributed.

A very different take than Zeke Emanuel (Obamacare architect) who thinks 75 is a good age to check out. http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/09/28/pope_francis_elderly_are_key_to_health_of_free_society/1107471

Female lawyer in Mosul tortured and executed by ISIS

“Militants with the Islamic State group tortured and then publicly killed a human rights lawyer in the Iraqi city of Mosul after their self-proclaimed religious court ruled that she had abandoned Islam, the U.N. mission in Iraq said Thursday.

Gunmen with the group's newly declared police force seized Samira Salih al-Nuaimi last week in a northeastern district of the Mosul while she was home with her husband and three children, two people with direct knowledge of the incident told The Associated Press on Thursday. Al-Nuaimi was taken to a secret location. After about five days, the family was called by the morgue to retrieve her corpse, which bore signs of torture, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for their safety.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, her arrest was allegedly connected to Facebook messages she posted that were critical of the militants' destruction of religious sites in Mosul. A statement by the U.N. on Thursday added that al-Nuaimi was tried in a so-called "Sharia court" for apostasy, after which she was tortured for five days before the militants sentenced her to "public execution." Her Facebook page appears to have been removed since her death.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/25/samira-nuaimi-killed_n_5880900.html

She bears no responsibility according OSU rules

“On 9/27/14 at 10:26 a.m. a female OSU student contacted OSU Police to report a rape that occurred between the hours of 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. in the Park-Stradley residence hall. The suspect was invited to the residence hall after meeting the female survivor earlier in the evening. The suspect is described as a 22-23 year old white male, 5 feet, 8 inches, 150 pounds wearing a light blue long-sleeve dress shirt and khaki pants. The suspect said his first name was Corey and claimed to also be an OSU student. The investigation is open and ongoing.

Sexual assault is any sexual activity that occurs in the absence of consent and can include sexual activity with someone whose judgment is impaired by alcohol/drugs, whether ingested voluntarily or unknowingly. Responsibility lies with the perpetrator, not the survivor. No one deserves, ask for, or provokes sexual assault. Most perpetrators assault someone they know. Sexual assault occurs in all communities and people of all genders can be survivors.”

Fear of strangers, common sense and sensible alcohol intake can go a long way toward protecting ourselves, but in today's world, that would be blaming the victim, aka the survivor.

Ferguson vs. Hamas, Putin and ISIS

Our President has been known for his own personal narcissism, but I thought it a bit odd that he rushed in with a "me too," "we too," in the U.N. speech and compared a man being shot in Ferguson with Putin taking over the eastern Ukraine, Hamas lobbing rockets at Israel, and ISIS raping and killing in Syria and Iraq. We actually have a legal system that will look at the evidence of whether the Ferguson victim tried to attack the policeman, or if he was robbing a store, or whether the policeman acted wrongly. The poor Yazidis, Christians and Turkmens who have seen their children and husbands beheaded because they wouldn't convert really haven't been given that option. There simply was no moral equivalency in his absurd comparison.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/bruce-thornton/the-incredible-lightness-of-being-barack-obama/

http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-obama-ferguson-and-the-u-n-1411680776

“Politico reported that it was "unusual" for the president to reference "domestic U.S. shortcomings during a speech devoted to international issues." Asked for an explanation, a White House official said the president wanted to acknowledge that the U.S. is "not perfect."

Well, neither is Mr. Obama's analogy.”

A good historical summary of what we are facing

“In view of its ideology, fanaticism, ruthlessness, the size of the territories that it has already occupied, and its regional and perhaps even global ambitions, ISIS can be regarded as the greatest threat since the Second World War and one that could change the map of the Middle East and the post-Sykes-Picot geography of the entire region, and challenge Western interests in the Persian Gulf and beyond. “

http://blog.transnational.org/2014/09/the-threat-of-isis-should-be-taken-seriously/

Laws to protect the married

I've read that there are over 1100 laws that concern married people--although I've yet to meet a married couple who got married for health benefits or power of attorney or the tax benefits. If these laws are such great reasons to marry why don't men and women living together or confirmed bachelors think they are such great benefits, outweighing all other (like cost of divorce), and why not let parents marry their children, sisters and brothers marry, landlord and renter, etc. because think of the benefits--wouldn't need to hire lawyers to set up all those messy contracts for your estate, loans and mortgages, pension and health.

Polygamists are also waiting in line for society to recognize them--and to get all those benefits. It's probably cheaper for men than serial divorces. Homosexuals are about 3% of the population and transgendered and those thinking about it less than 1%. Although the ones who marry make the evening news, especially if they sue people who make cakes and rent their property for weddings, most are choosing to be free of those laws and keep their own wealth, pensions, homes, etc. just like many men who have fiancés, but not wives.

Brit claims she’s obese because the government doesn’t give her enough money

If you read any article by the poverty pimps or academics in the USA, the same case is made. We don't give enough money to the poor to buy healthy food so therefore they buy high calorie, high fat, highly processed food with SNAP. That's just silly. Ounce for ounce, healthy food is much cheaper than processed. You can buy 10 lbs of potatoes for the cost of 16 oz. of potato chips. Oranges, apples, bananas, etc. are far cheaper than bags of fruit flavored snacks. She’s also never heard of walking—the greatest exercise ever.

I googled a comparison cost of living site, and although UK is socialist, almost everything is higher than in the U.S. (food is about 11% higher), except renting a tennis court for an hour and disposable income--those are lower. But even so, she could do better by contributing some of her own labor and preparing real food.

“It would be good if the government offered a cash incentive for me to lose weight. I’d like to get £1  for every pound I lose,” 25-year-old Christina Briggs said.

Briggs said losing weight is currently impossible because she doesn’t have enough money to buy healthy food or join a gym.

http://www.nationalreview.com//article/388887/350-pound-woman-im-obese-because-i-dont-get-enough-taxpayer-money-katherine-timpf

 

And tattoos are expensive, too.  What’s a poor girl to do?

Whether you believe in the weather

ISIS destroying churches and mosques

“ISIS has destroyed churches, religious shrines and mosques in the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, including the tombs of the prophets Jonah, George, Daniel as well as a number of ancient churches in the provinces of Salahuddin and Nineveh. In Mosul ISIS has destroyed or occupied all 45 Christian religious institutions (AINA 2014-07-29).

The Green Church was considered the most famous church of Tikrit and the most beautiful. It was built by the Metropolitan of Tikrit, His Holinesss Dinkha II, and was called the church of Saint Ahoadamah in remembrance of the Patriarch who was killed by the Persian King Khosrow I.

Buried in the Church were the founder Mar Dinkha II, and his successors Daniel, Thomas, Basilious III, and John II.

In 1089 the church was ordered destroyed by the Muslim governor and it was looted and damaged, but was later restored and returned to Assyrians.”

http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2014/09/extremist-destroy-7th-century-church-mosque-in-tikrit-iraq/

http://www.aina.org/news/20140925012701.htm

Here’s a nod to fall—Pumpkin Butter for your toast

Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin lovers will love this simple low fat pumpkin butter recipe which is so versatile to use, and deliciously good for you.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, or 1 (29 ounce) can (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup apple cider or juice
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• 1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine pureed pumpkin, vanilla, apple juice, spices, cinnamon sticks and sugar in a large saucepan; stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently. Adjust spices to your taste. Makes 3 3/4 cups