Breakfast make up

We had lunch at the OSU golf course dining room for our son’s birthday yesterday and of course, I had to celebrate with some decadent chocolate cake. So today I'm making up for my indiscretion with a baked sweet potato for breakfast--769% of Vit. A requirement and 65% Vit. C. Low in sodium, and very low in saturated fat (until I add salt and butter) and cholesterol. It is also a good source of fiber, Vitamin B6, potassium and manganese. Blogs are pretty good for posting about what you eat, because others find that more interesting than Ferguson or illegal immigration.

We’re hosting a Haitian doctor on Friday, and I’m not sure what to fix for dinner.  In fact, I learned Sunday that he isn’t Haitian, he is an African working in Haiti.  Recently we hosted someone from Michigan, and she was a gluten free guest, and fortunately I had made a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, although she didn’t eat any of the hot rolls. We met her at Lakeside this summer and she is hoping to go on the next Haitian mission sponsored by our church.

I have no idea who the person on the right is, but on the left is our 46 year old birthday boy wearing his braces.

The crimes against Ferguson

This wasn't a "protest" it was nation-wide, well-organized crime by thugs and criminals hoping to create a revolution a la the 1960s--like grandpa's. The people of Ferguson have been the victims of these criminals. Our president's address just added to the suspicion and frustration. Violence and crime in our nation has never been lower--so crime must be hyped to instill fear in voters. The black-officer-kills-black-felon rate was 32 per 100,000 black officers in 1998, (lastest year I could find stats, but violent crime was higher then) which is higher than the white-officer kills-black-felon rate of 14 per 100,000 white officers. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/11/24/president-obama-delivers-statement-ferguson-grand-jurys-decision

But what is also true is that there are still problems and communities of color aren't just making these problems up.  Separating that from this particular decision, there are issues in which the law too often feels as if it is being applied in discriminatory fashion. I don't think that's the norm. I don't think that's true for the majority of communities or the vast majority of law enforcement officials. But these are real issues.  And we have to lift them up and not deny them or try to tamp them down. What we need to do is to understand them and figure out how do we make more progress.  And that can be done.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/11/25/40-Ferguson-Area-Businesses-Trashed-Vandalized-or-Destroyed-by-Protestors

Today Show survey on the Ferguson case

Green is rain, purple snow—for busy travel day

This is the forecast for Wednesday, November 26, 2014.  Not great for travelers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/11/24/east-coast-timing-and-impacts-for-wednesdays-winter-storm/

Democrats go after the bad

A caller to the Michael Medved show (98.9 fm Columbus) today commented that when something bad happens, it's good for the Democrats because they are perpetual ambulance chasers.

• More single moms? Vote Democrat.
• Neighborhood housing stock collapsing? Vote Democrat.
• 11 million illegals taking American jobs? Vote Democrat.
• Bad infrastructure? Vote Democrat.
• Gays want to marry and straights don't? Vote Democrat.
• VA hospital long wait list? Vote Democrat.
• IRS and NSA and Secret Service scandals? Vote Democrat.
• Health care too expensive because of red tape, fraud, and regulations? Vote Democrat.

The ones who cause the problems think they should get to fix them! And somehow, the public buys this gruberazation, because maybe the voters really are stupid.

Monday Memories—first and second birthdays

With two birthdays and a national holiday falling within the same week, it used to be sort of hectic the 3rd or 4th week in November. There was awhile when we did a lot of togetherness; now we get together on Thanksgiving, and possibly a separate night out if anyone is free.  This photo is their first co-birthday (12 months and 3 days apart).  I think as soon as I let go of Phil he went into the cake with both hands.  It was a party at Aunt Jeanne’s in Indianapolis and many people came.

The famous mayor of DC has died

Marion Barry, the beloved Washington DC politician has died. Here are some of his more famous quotes, lifted from another post.

"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very, very low crime rate."

"First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I'm a night owl."

"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?"

"I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600's. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican."

"The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist."

And perhaps his most infamous quote...
"The b*tch set me up!"

http://www.msn.com/…/marion-barry-4-time-mayor-…/ar-BBfmBFk…

Peter Kreeft’s Practical Theology

I am a Protestant with Anabaptist baptism (1950) and current Lutheran confirmation (1976), so my TBR list hasn't included Thomas Aquinas. If you've had seminary training, is he ever mentioned in a positive light? (Revelation is not found only in Scripture or only in church tradition; revelation is a divine source of knowledge of which the Bible and the church are channels).

Well, here's a Christmas gift book suggestion for the heavy duty thinkers and pastors on your Christmas book list : "Practical theology; spiritual direction from Saint Thomas Aquinas." Ignatius Press, 2014. It is topically arranged, with each page a brief excerpt from Summa Theologiae (4,000 pages), with Peter Kreeft's annotation and explanation. I would have preferred 365 pieces of wisdom rather than 359, but reviewers don't get to design the title. Kreeft has made Aquinas brief, livable and personal, although not exactly lovable.

Topics include the problem of evil; reconciling justice and mercy; angels and demons; the purpose of morality; evil and ignorance; how Christ's death opened heaven; what is the significance of Jesus being crucified between 2 thieves; qualifications for religious teachers; how do the Beatitudes relate to the 10 Commandments, and so forth.

I don't claim to understand all this--but sometimes it's just a relief to get away from "16 ways to pray in the car," or "I'm spiritual but not religious" type books.

http://www.ignatius.com/Products/PRT-P/practical-theology.aspx

Thursday Thirteen--Better the dumper than the dumpee

Possibly my memory fails on unpleasant thoughts, but I think I was only "dumped" once by a boyfriend. However, it was a valuable experience. A life lesson, as it were. I learned it is better to be the dumper than the dumpee. For instance, it is better to

1. buy the new tires before one of the balding set goes bad on a dark night on the free-way
   
   
2. lose 5 lbs before it becomes 20
   
   
3. withdraw from the course rather than get a B or C
   
   
4. take the lower fixed rate rather than the higher with the risk when investing, and the higher fixed rate rather than the adjustable lower one when buying a house
   
   
5. stop the exercise when the first hitch in your get-along starts
   
   
6. quit choir before they notice you can't sing a note
   
   
7. volunteer for the job no one else wants
   
   
8. fix old favorites for family dinners
   
   
9. use the rest stop even if you don't have to go
   
   
10. make sure the windows are closed if you plan to go out
    
    
11. carry a list of prescriptions with you, so when they ask each time at the doctor's office, you'll know
    
    
12. be the first to offer when the hostess says, "who would like to bring. . ." so you have the best choice
    
    
13. 
    
    
    

Western Civilization

“Western civilization is the envy of the globe. It has given to the world universally accepted understandings of human rights (rooted in Judeo-Christian principles), created standards for art, music, and literature that have never been equaled, and originated political and social systems that have spread all across the planet.

Unfortunately, the fog of political correctness now obscures these and other truths about Western civilization. Leftists and Islamic jihadists find common cause in assailing Western "colonialism," "imperialism," and "racism" as its defining characteristics. Guilt-ridden Western leaders and public figures speak of their cultural patrimony in disparaging terms they would never dare to use about a non-Western culture. And in the academy, "multicultural"-minded professors flatter students into believing they have nothing really to learn from Sophocles or Shakespeare.” from product description, Everything you should know--but PC professors won't teach--about our Western heritage

Fortunately, when I was at Manchester College (now Manchester University) my western civ professor was Dr. Gladdys Muir.  I never got the nonsense taught today in many colleges.  She was wonderful.

Gladdys Muir, peace studies pioneer, was born into a loving family who nurtured her in many ways, including art and music. Although she was described as a shy person in her youth, she had an inner strength and courage that drew her to teaching - a career that spanned 52 years at LaVerne College and then at Manchester College.

In 1947 Muir proposed that programs for the study of international conflict be established at each of the Brethren-related colleges. The Peace Studies Institute at Manchester College was the first program in the world to provide a major in peace studies and was a model for dozens of peace and conflict studies programs in the late 1960s. http://yellowbrickjourney.blogspot.com/2008/07/gladdys-muir.html (a diary kept in 2008 for the Church of the Brethren 300th year anniversary)

How the rest of the country sees the voters of NYC

Here's an interesting letter from "the rest of the country" to the voters in Manhattan, NY:

"By per capita income, Manhattan is the richest county in the country. In New York, and in Manhattan specifically, you have put in place more government programs to address poverty and income inequality than has any other state or locality. You have higher taxes than any other jurisdiction. You have a vast array of housing programs, from extensive low-income public housing, to rent regulation, to multiple “affordable housing” initiatives. Your welfare programs are the nation’s most generous. You have the most generous Medicaid program, too. And you spend almost double the national average per student on K-12 education.

Yet, even with all those programs and all that spending, according to Census Bureau statistics, Manhattan’s poverty rate is above the national average. . ." Read the whole letter--really good..

http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon1114fm.html

One of the better comments on the letter that really reflects on trying to reason with liberals:

“There is no hope that this message will get across. Theirs is not merely a political persuasion: it is a religious belief akin to Islam in its all-encompassing nature. It is impervious to logic and the lessons of reality. It controls every aspect of their lives: personal, social, and political. It is culturally deadly and is quite incurable.”

One commenter blamed Fox News for the author’s viewpoint.  Boy! Doesn’t that sound familiar.

Egg shell plaintiffs and non-victims on college campuses

The whole article, Microaggression Farce by Heather MacDonald is worth reading, however, since most won’t take the time, I just site her final 2 paragraphs, because it touches on some serious issues beyond academe:

“The universities’ encouragement of victimology has wider implications beyond the campus. The same imperative to repress any acknowledgment of black academic underachievement as the cause of black underrepresentation in higher education is more fatefully at work in repressing awareness of disproportionate black criminality as the cause of black overrepresentation in the criminal-justice system. When a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, shot an unarmed black teen in August 2014, for example, the media suppressed any information about the incident that complicated its favored narrative about police brutality, all the while pumping out strained stories about racism in law enforcement and public life more generally. The result was days of violence, looting, and arson, from a populace that had been told at every opportunity that it is the target of ubiquitous discrimination.

Colleges today are determined to preserve in many of their students the thin skin and solipsism of adolescence, rather than turning them into dispassionate adults. They build ever more monumental bureaucracies to indulge those traits. By now, of course, many of the adults running colleges are indistinguishable from their eggshell plaintiff students. The rest of us bear the costs, in the maintenance of public policies founded on an equally spurious victimology.”

CCHD director under fire

“Several Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) grantees are affiliates of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), a worker advocacy group whose leadership is full of individuals who promote abortion and homosexuality, and many who are committed Marxist socialists, according to a report by the Lepanto Institute.”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cchd-head-sits-on-board-of-group-while-he-oversees-grants-to-its-affiliates

“In Fiscal Year 2014-2015, six IWJ affiliates received CCHD grants totaling $280,000, the Lepanto report said.

They include Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center ($50,000), Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa ($45,000), Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha ($70,000), New Labor Education & Training Institute ($40,000), Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York ($50,000), and Workers' Dignity Project ($25,000).”

We just got a king

Shadeism in Telemundo and Univision

The whitest media in the U.S. are Telemundo and Univision--both are applauding Obama's illegal behavior. If you've ever seen a mixed race (Indian/European, aka mestizo) performer on those channels, let me know. I'll want to update my blogs about this travesty of racism. Long before cable, our regular broadcast media had blacks, Hispanics, women, disabled in front of the camera--even back in the 1960s. Telemundo is owned by NBC; Univision is headquartered in NYC.

"He owed us," they angrily reported. What do they owe the millions who have crossed the border--besides making them consumers of their Spanish language advertisers, of course.

http://shadeism.com/

Media and Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton scandals

The only thing I'm absolutely sure about is we'll never know the truth about Bill Cosby. The same charges were brought against Bill Clinton, and the main stream press blamed the women. Now in a big reversal, the celebrity is being blamed and smeared by the media. Maybe it's racism, or a cover of bigger stories. Who can tell--we're so manipulated. We've been lied to so often about sex, money, power, celebrities and politics, uncovering what happened 30-40 years ago won't be easy, and do we even want to know? You younger people don't remember what it was like to finally see a black person performing on TV as someone other than a dancer or clown (Cosby in "I Spy", 1965-68). And the millions of families he helped get through those teen years. I weep for him, us and the truth.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/showbiz/bill-cosby-allegations-repercussions/index.html

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/11/21/lou-ferrigno-wife-carla-ferrigno-latest-to-accuse-bill-cosby-assault/

Fetal cells that stay behind in Mom—forever

Fetal microchimerism. Abortion could be behind the huge increase in autoimmune diseases in women. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20607042

Summary: “Fetal microchimerism occurs in normal human reproduction and is a relatively new discovery in biology. Recent data in the scientific and medical literature indicates that some of the autoimmune diseases that show a predilection for women in their child-bearing years and beyond are linked to fetal microchimerism from previous pregnancies. The pathological role of fetal microchimeric progenitor immature T cells in autoimmune disease in women is explored. Fetal microchimerism is increased in women who had a termination of pregnancy and may be associated with the development of autoimmune disease later on in life. Furthermore, the consistently rising incidence of autoimmune diseases in women over the past four decades may be attributed to the increase in the utilization of abortion.”

Whatever happened to free-spirited, open minded college students?

“From freewheelin’ to ban-happy, from askers of awkward questions to suppressors of offensive speech, in the space of a generation. My showdown with the debate-banning Stepfords at Oxford and the pre-crime promoters at Cambridge echoed other recent run-ins I’ve had with the intolerant students of the 21st century. I’ve been jeered at by students at the University of Cork for criticising gay marriage; cornered and branded a ‘denier’ by students at University College London for suggesting industrial development in Africa should take precedence over combating climate change; lambasted by students at Cambridge (again) for saying it’s bad to boycott Israeli goods. In each case, it wasn’t the fact the students disagreed with me that I found alarming — disagreement is great! – it was that they were so plainly shocked that I could have uttered such things, that I had failed to conform to what they assume to be right, that I had sought to contaminate their campuses and their fragile grey matter with offensive ideas.” Samizdat Quote of the Day

– Brendan O’Neill

Things appear to be the same on British campuses—Cambridge, Oxford,Cork,  London--as American.

Obama’s lawless action on amnesty

Why should we believe any promises/assurances the president said last night? Twenty plus times he said he wouldn't do that; in 2009 he claimed we could keep our insurance and doctors. He lies, lies, lies, then parses the lies. If he doesn't like a law, he just goes around it or ignores it. He claims 5 million is not blanket amnesty, that these visa over stayers and border jumpers will have to do x-y-z, that until Congress acts, he must do this overreaching and violate the Constitution.

So if Congress does act in Obama's last 2 years, he'll just veto it; if there are 10 million, he'll just override what he said last night. The man can't be trusted. If you are an O-supporter, remember the next President may be a Republican and decide to undo some of your favorite causes because Obama has shown how to do it.

Senator Barack Obama helped kill immigration reform. "Obama was part of the bipartisan group of senators who began meeting in 2005 on comprehensive immigration reform. But last summer [2007], with the presidential nominating race well under way, Obama backed 11th-hour amendments - supported by labor, immigrant rights, and clergy groups - that Republicans saw as imperiling the fragile compromise. None of those measures passed. But Obama was part of a 49-to-48 majority that voted to end after five years a temporary worker program that had been a cornerstone of the immigration deal. The vote, backed by labor, was seen as a major setback to bipartisan negotiations." (Christian Science Monitor) He couldn't be trusted then, can't be trusted now.

John McCain and Ted Kennedy had been working on a bipartisan immigration reform bill since 2005, but Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 and decided they needed a divided Congress to whip up emotion and more votes from Hispanics; if the solution were bipartisan, then that might not happen.

Although Obama talks up the tragedy of children and parents (anchor babies) appealing to Hispanics, students and workers from all over the world who have just stayed after their visas have run out also have children, friends, and jobs. Obama has relatives in that group. All are coming ahead of those families who have tried to immigrate legally.

His main intention is to make Republicans look bad if they try to undo his illegal actions—all 5 million of them.

Friday Family Photo—1989 at Lakeside—I think

My brother sent a batch of photos I'd sent to my parents, dups or similars, years ago. There's no paint on the new deck in this photo, which is how I'm dating it 25 years ago. There's also about 100 lbs less of us in this photo. Big hair, big shoulder pads. Those were exciting years for us.  It was fun fixing up the cottage to our liking, and taking long week-ends from work.