Senator Obama

Is popcorn considered “fast food?”

One of the major fall outs from the women's movement of the 1970s was more children eating in restaurants. We rarely eat at "fast food" places, but all restaurants where we do eat have a lot of children. It's a lot cheaper and healthier to feed them at home. With the money you save, hire a sitter and go out without them. http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx…

You’ll find an excellent graphic at this article

http://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body

Thinking Spain for 2015

Light blue dot.

The voters who were grubered

How government benefits hurt the poor in the long run

Minimum wage increases will affect only about 1% of American workers.  This is a political club, not a help for workers. The problem is unemployment, lack of skills, under the table pay, low education levels, but Democrats say changing things for 1% will give those families a great benefit.  Not as long as it pays better to receive government benefits if you don't or can't work: if you would lose your Medicaid if you accepted a raise, why would you try to advance? If you had to move out of Section 8 housing if you got a promotion and the pay wouldn't cover the new apartment, would you?

 http://news.yahoo.com/welfare-pays-more-entry-level-shocking-number-states-144812704.html

The authors found that in 11 states, “welfare pays more than the average pretax first-year wage for a teacher [in those states]. In 39 states, it pays more than the starting wage for a secretary. And, in the three most generous states a person on welfare can take home more money than an entry-level computer programmer.”

STEM Women

I've seen stupid stories about women, but this beats all. Feminists got their naked lady tattoos in a knot over this guy's shirt and ignored the science. Now that should help the camaraderie in the lab.

"At first, people were excited. Then some women noticed that one of the space scientists, Matt Taylor, was wearing a shirt, made for him by a female "close pal," featuring comic-book depictions of semi-naked women."

It became a bigger story than Kim Kardashian's naked butt, which as far as I could tell had no scientific merit. Women can wear anything they want or nothing at all, all in an effort to attract men, but by golly, men better stay covered in something gender neutral and pretend they don’t care about what women look like—not even cartoonish women.

 http://www.usatoday.com/…/shirt-comet-girls-femin…/19083607/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2834451/Philae-comet-probe-scientist-embroiled-sexism-row-shirt-featuring-scantily-clad-women.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/13/living/matt-taylor-shirt-philae-rosetta-project/index.html

Liberal logic

Comment on Democrat voters, Michael Petrino

“The Republicans are deceiving themselves if they think Democrats, or those who vote for them, are disturbed by the fact that Gruber is a liar and a simpleton, or that Obamacare will ultimately bring them great pain. Honesty and integrity are characteristics that are not highly valued by Democrat voters. If they were highly valued, Hillary would not be the leading contender for the Democrat nomination in 2016. Ted Kennedy would not have been returned to office over and over again after he killed Mary Jo. Bill Clinton would not be revered after the no lo plea and the statements by a number of women that he assaulted them. Barney Frank would not have been reelected many times after it was discovered that a prostitution ring was being run out of his apartment by his partner. Charlie Rangel would not have been reelected after he was found to have engaged in violations of the tax code. Democrats just do not care; they want politicians who can be relied upon to give them "free" stuff.”

This comment was made at the article about how Gruber and CBO cooked the books on Obamacare.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/jonathan-grubers-stupid-budget-tricks-1416009107

Obama and amnesty

Why does Obama believe Hispanics need an extra push from Washington?Their college enrollment increased 15% in 2011, and their high school drop out rate is very low. Hispanic families value education and marriage.  Black enrollment in college decreased during the same time 3% and many households are held back economically due to lack of marriage.  Maybe unions and the Chamber are anticipating cheap labor with amnesty, but let's look down the road a few years as these stats translate to graduate school, and white collar jobs. (Pew Report Hispanic College Enrollment, 2012)

How to become a millionaire selling Obamacare

Jonathan Gruber raked in a tidy sum "selling" Obamacare to adoring Democrat audiences who heard about the "stupidity" of American voters who would swallow the poison only with a teaspoon of lies. In the bill there was money to promote it; it went to states in the form of grants, and he was hired by 8-10 states (known at this time) at $300-$400,000 a pop. And Nancy Pelosi who claimed she didn't know him, is in the archives lauding his wisdom and position. The O Team is a piece of work.

http://www.vox.com/2014/11/13/7211279/obamacare-jon-gruber-controversy

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/14/despite-dem-claims-trash-talking-gruber-was-well-paid-adviser-for-obamacare-and/

http://mainenewsonline.com/content/14111660-jonathan-gruber-was-paid-well-advising-obamacare-programme

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/14/vermont-still-loves-jonathan-gruber.html

Charitable giving

Jesus preaches and teaches more on money than any other topic. Liberal Christians will remind you, if you forget. However, he never asks believers/followers to take money from others and pretend it's their own generosity. Nor does he ever suggest they ask Rome to respond to their responsibilities. Nor does he ever promise you will end poverty or change lives if you give--except maybe your own. Although Americans are the most generous in the world--giving to charity more than the GDP of some prosperous countries--the lowest income and least educated Americans (bottom fifth) give beyond their capacity. The wealthiest give proportionately the least. Giving helps your health, your happiness and even your looks! The giving season is coming--don't be stingy. http://online.wsj.com/…/SB100014240527023043374045792143334

http://www.aei.org/publication/arthur-brooks-to-unveil-new-research-on-charitable-giving/

http://allchristiannews.com/less-tithing/

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/05/19/68456_americas-poor-are-its-most-generous.html?rh=1

Fried Cabbage with sausage

I love fried cabbage.  I like to buy shredded/chopped cabbage and just toss some in the skillet for lunch. You don’t need this much butter, but it’s in the recipe. Or use olive oil.

FRIED CABBAGE WITH SAUSAGE

1 stick butter or margarine
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into round pieces (I use turkey)
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes or rotel tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt butter in large skillet. Add cabbage, onion, and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes stirring to keep from sticking to pan. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.
Makes about 8 servings. Only 4 g net carbs per serving.

Sylvia posted this on Facebook, from Trisha Renee.

Life expectancy at 75, or why are Hispanics living longer?

Bob senior (b. 1913) and sons shortly before his death at 93.

Life expectancy is usually given for birth year, but you can also figure it from current age. Hispanics in the U.S. have the highest life expectancy, then white non-Hispanic, then black non-Hispanic. This applies at birth and ages 65 and 75. So something other than income and government benefits is at work. Those in the upper ranges are all pre-War on Poverty and pre-126 wealth transfer programs. Based on the CDC figures, I think I’ll go with my Mom and Dad’s ages—88 and 89. My two grandfathers were around 93.  My husband’s father was 93.

 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2011/022.pdf

"Hispanic" is a made up word to refer to people whose families come from a Spanish speaking country--Cuba, Mexico, South America (not sure if Brazilians are called Hispanic), etc. Generally, they are of European ancestry with a mix of Indian.

Divorce rates are lower; marriage rates are higher for Hispanic households. Hispanics are less likely to co-habit. Living together without marriage does not provide the health and wealth benefits of marriage. If it is an inter-ethnic marriage, those figures hold. Hispanic families are more likely to attend church than other groups. All these factors affect health (and wealth). However, more education = higher divorce rate. Since 2001 the largest minority in the U.S. population, Hispanics now have the highest college enrollment rate for freshmen since 2012, Will we see a lower life expectancy as they take on the culture of the majority?

http://www.gallup.com/poll/17404/Where-Hispanic-Americans-Stand-Religion-Politics.aspx

http://www.care2.com/causes/hispanic-college-enrollment-rate-is-higher-than-white-enrollment.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/sunday-review/why-everyone-seems-to-have-cancer.html

http://hispanics.barna.org/hispanic-priorities-marriage-family-and-youth/

Today I did go

 

Today I visited Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, with the Conestoga group. Many famous people await the resurrection here, many species of trees, wonderful sculptures, and hundreds of stories (about 147,000) known only to the families. I'd driven past it for 47 years, and finally visited.  The average temperature this time of year is usually 55, but it was 31, and we were pretty cold.  The Docent did a wonderful job.  I hope to go again when the weather is nice.  Three OSU presidents, Edward Orton, William Oxley Thompson, and George W. Rightmire are buried there and five Ohio governors.   Also, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, famous WWI pilot.  Samuel P. Bush, grandfather and great grandfather of Bush 41 and 43 is also there. There are over 150 species of trees, and it’s a favorite spot for migratory birds.

Why the media blackout on Gruber? Silly question.

“Kirsten Powers [Democrat and liberal reporter for Fox] called out the mainstream media for ignoring several new videos that show one of the architects of ObamaCare admitting the administration was not transparent about what was in the bill back in 2009 and 2010.

Jonathan Gruber said that the “stupidity of the American voter” helped ObamaCare become law, acknowledging that the administration could not be forthcoming about taxes in the bill.

He said the administration exploited the lack of understanding of the average American.

The White House had not commented until today when Ed Henry pressed Josh Earnest on Gruber's admissions.

Powers said she can't understand why media outlets like The New York Times would not think this is worthy of coverage.”

http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/11/13/kirsten-powers-truly-stunned-media-blackout-stupid-americans-video

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/12/politics/gruber-obamacare-third-video/index.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gops-anti-obamacare-push-gains-new-momentum-in-wake-of-gruber-video/2014/11/12/e0d6b4d2-6aa7-11e4-9fb4-a622dae742a2_story.html  WaPo makes the story about the GOP instead of Gruber and Obama!

Required pre-school?

Our federal government has done such an amazing job on k-12 education and in containing costs for college (the cost of higher education has surged more than 500 percent since 1985), that now it wants to require pre-kindergarten education--even though its own program for the poor and low income (Head Start) shows no advantage--just so it can complete the job of state thought control.

 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/…/o…/head_start_executive_summary.pdf

Islam and end times

My husband bought a book this morning at his UALC men's Bible study: "Resurgent Islam and America: The End times," by David Goldmann, (Xulon press, 2010). Goldmann is a former missionary in Northern Africa who lives in Columbus and has a great love for the Muslim people--which is why he brought Christ to them. His wife is in my book club. After he reads it, perhaps I can get him to write something about it.

So many Catholics are disagreeing with the Pope

R. R. Reno said in the December issue of First Things: “[the Pope] is dangerously wrong when he suggests that the way forward is to obsess less [about sex]. The opposite is true. . . our age is already obsessed with sex.  If we don’t speak—if our church leaders don’t speak—we’ll be absorbed into our culture’s way of thinking, and our children will be catechized by progressive creeds of sexual liberation.”

St. Augustine urged the faithful not to follow their bishops if the Bishops were not following holy scripture. "We may not assent to the teaching even of the Catholic bishops, if at any time they are deceived into opinions contrary to the canonical Scriptures of God; but if they should so fall into error, and yet maintain the bond of unity and charity, let the apostle's saying avail in their case: 'And if in anything ye are otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.' Now these divine words have so manifest an application to the whole Church, that none but heretics in their stubborn perverseness and blind fury can bark against them." (Cf. Augustine's Reply to Faustus the Manichaean (Contra Faustum), book 11, 5.)  Seems to fit some of today's controversies.

Growth of internet use and church membership

Is internet use and higher education affecting your church's attendance? "In the 2010 U.S. population, Internet use could account for 5.1 million people with no religious affiliation, or 20% of the observed decrease in affiliation relative to the 1980s. Increases in college graduation between the 1980s and 2000s could account for an additional 5% of the decrease." Allen B. Downey, professor of computer science (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1403.5534v1.pdf)

Before turning on your computer, smart phone or I-pad, arm yourself with the Lord's Prayer, one of the creeds, or a favorite psalm to balance out your strong social needs and to make contact with the One who really cares and listens and is never off line or out of range.

The worthy goals of the ACA

The two most important goals of Obamacare were to reduce the number of uninsured (estimated at about 44 million in 2009) and to reduce health care costs. Those were admirable goals with which no one can argue. Almost immediately the CBO figured there was not going to be a reduction in costs, and might even be an increase.

And the uninsured? Well, about half were young and in their youthful way had decided they'd rather have pizza and beer than do that co-pay and deduction at work; another large group made over $75,000 a year and just chose not to insure, or could self insure.

So that left about 30 million uninsured poor people, many of whom were already eligible for Medicaid but didn't sign up. Now even the most Obama-loving estimates are there will still be about 14 million uninsured when this all shakes out. For that, millions lost their doctors, their insurance and their jobs and we taxpayers lost hundreds of millions on a sign up system that didn't work, plus our right to privacy for our medical records. And the Democrats are scratching their heads on why they lost the election?