All I need to know about life I learned from a snowman

It’s okay if you’re a little bottom heavy.

Hold your ground, even when the heat is on.

Wearing white is always appropriate.

Winter is the best of the four seasons.

It takes a few extra rolls to make a good midsection.

There’s nothing better than a foul weather friend.

The key to life is to be a jolly, happy soul.

It’s not the size of the carrot, but the placement that counts.

We’re all made up of mostly water.

You know you’ve made it when they write a song about you.

Accessorize! Accessorize! Accessorize!

Avoid yellow snow.

Don’t get too much sun.

It’s embarrassing when you can’t look down and see your feet.

It’s fun to hang out in your front yard.

Always put your best foot forward.

There’s no stopping you once you’re on a roll.

 http://www.inspirationalarchive.com/1552/all-i-need-to-know-about-life-i-learned-from-a-snowman/#ixzz3L1ietOoF

Why wasn’t this a hate crime?

Not once was this gang rape and beating of a girl at a school dance with many students watching called a "hate crime."  I blogged about it in 2009, and see some of the "men" and boys were convicted in 2013.  No riots about race, either--couldn't see her face in the court drawings, but she appeared to be white, the assailants black and Hispanic.

 http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/16/juries-deliberating-in-2009-richmond-high-school-gang-rape-case/

The war on women doesn’t include rape and cross-racial crime.  Too touchy. Al Sharpton didn’t show up.  The president didn’t say she could have been his daughter. And why 4 years to get a conviction?

The lies about Ferguson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2PYJPPFx9Q#t=301

Conspiring to put an innocent man in jail—truth is a casualty.

Benjamin Aaron Shapiro, known as Ben Shapiro (born January 15, 1984 is an American conservative political commentator, best selling author, radio talk show host, attorney, and media consultant.

A native of Los Angeles, Shapiro graduated from UCLA and Harvard Law School. He has written five books, starting with Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth in 2004, writes a column for Creators Syndicate, is editor-at-large of Breitbart News, and founder/editor-in-chief for the media watchdog group TruthRevolt. Wikipedia

The Christmas catalogs keep coming

I mentioned the huge number of catalogs we've been getting. Yesterday we got "Wireless," which sells just about anything, especially t-shirts.  If you've got a train buff on your list look at VQ7722, $34.95.  Supposedly, each engine and caboose is so detailed you can identify it. Then there is "Easily manipulated by grandkids," that would work for some I know. "Prayer the world's greatest wireless connection." Some really nice long sleeve black T's with musical instruments. "World cat herding champion." "With age comes oldness." "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel." "Back in my day we had 9 planets." http://www.thewirelesscatalog.com/wireless/T-Shirts_3RA.html

 

 

How to use a crisis

Something's a little fishy. Obama loads up our local police with all that left over war stuff--even Ohio State got some and lumbering multi-wheeled armored trucks suitable for sand dunes look a little silly on campus.  Then he decides local control of the police isn't good enough to protect blacks, and the police really need more federal control. http://wdtn.com/2014/09/09/ohio-and-military-equipment/ Then he has tax dodger Al Sharpton at his beer summit as though he speaks for law abiding African Americans. 

And how about that lefty media getting vapors about what one GOP woman said on Twitter?  Ayesha Kreutz, a black woman FB friend, comments:

“So, I read a headline ONLY that some GOP woman has resigned? What? She resigned over making a comment about the Obama girls looking bored and their clothing apparently. What in the world is happening people? Now, don't get it twisted, sure it is kind of mean spirited IMHO to pick on kiddos especially those of high profile people, but hey, it is part of the job I suppose, it happens. But how in the world is this lady resigning and not Barack Obama?

• He can launder money (Solyndra) and not have to resign?
• He can get an United States ambassador killed ( Benghazi) and not have to resign?
• Obama and his administration did more than Nixon ever thought of doing, he has an enemies list and targeted citizens with the IRS, and no resigning for him?
• He can lie repeatedly to the American people as a matter of fact he is a prolific liar I would list the list but they are endless, yet no resignation?

This is just the mega short list of why he should resign, though impeachment is much better. Democrats should be ashamed to let this guy represent them, If he was a Republican president he would have been impeached already and we would have brought up the charges ourselves. The GOP has its head somewhere bad or else the White House has so many secrets/scandals on these folks and are threatening to use them. If that is the case for the good of the country you all need to step down; other wise grow a pair.”

Then an NFL player posted a photo of the rear end of Malia, and nary an outcry for sexualizing the first daughter.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/2/ferguson-police-werent-invited-white-house-meeting/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/01/obama-white-house-summit-ferguson

“Protesters in Ferguson were confronted by police driving armoured personnel carriers and carrying assault weapons, who repeatedly used tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators. Last week, teams of officers armed with military-grade weaponry and army-style fatigues were once again seen driving around Ferguson, although the overall response by law enforcement was more calibrated.”

What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House by Tevi Troy

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15824285-what-jefferson-read-ike-watched-and-obama-tweeted

I was at Half-Price Books today and noticed this title on the Clearance shelf for $2.00.  I almost selected it because I like to read about readers. I looked at the chapter on President G.W. Bush, and was surprised to see the author got it right, whereas Bush detractors (most of the media) were totally off base.  Bush was an avid reader—he and Rove used to have competitions. 

Laura Bush’s recommendations

“Mr. Bush was more of a reader than many Americans imagined — he had reading contests with Karl Rove, his top political adviser, measured not just by the number of books finished, but the cumulative number of pages and even square inches of text. He was particularly drawn to Lincoln, reading 14 books about the Civil War president while in office.

His reading at times had impact. Natan Sharansky’s book “The Case for Democracy” helped inform Mr. Bush’s second-term focus on spreading freedom around the world.

And Alistair Horne’s history of the war in Algeria, “A Savage War of Peace,” taught Mr. Bush that more people died after the French withdrew — reinforcing his own reluctance to pull out of Iraq.

“Obama’s book selections have been harder to read,” said Mr. Troy, the author of “What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted.”  Obama’s book list

President GHW Bush’s summer list

Bush’s last year and WaPo finds out he reads

Suggested reading, GW Bush

The dumbing down of smart

“In researching my book National Insecurity, I looked at 10 of the most prominent think tanks in Washington over a period of a decade. These organizations produced almost 12,000 events, papers, and research reports over that time. Of these, the vast majority concentrated on just a few topics -- such as the Middle East, the war on terror, and China -- linked closely to whatever was in the headlines at the time. Other areas, deserving of focus but outside the "buzz zone," got much less attention. The areas that got by far the least coverage? Science and technology -- never mind that they are responsible for most of the changes redefining life on the planet and many of the emerging threats with which humanity is grappling. “ and lack of creative thinking is most apparent in Washington, D.C. Of the 2014 global thinkers on the FP list, only 2 are from the U.S.

David Rothkopf

The last Thanksgiving

How to Gruberize the African American

About 97% of blacks who voted in 2008 voted for Barack Obama, who in turn bailed out banks, made a fantastic deal with insurance companies that promised them 30 million more customers, frolicked with the stars and celebrities, took lavish vacations, and golfed a lot. Now 6 years later, race relations have never been worse, young black men still have terrible unemployment and Obama is opening up new jobs for illegals. To look like he cares, he invites Al Sharpton to a big muc...kety muck meeting on police violence. Al owes us Americans about $4.5 million in back taxes. So I guess that makes him an expert on crime. Also violence in the black community has dropped dramatically in the last 2 decades while rates in white communities remained flat due to some tough laws and policing, but Obama's AG Eric Holder wants to stop "profiling" and let more criminals run loose in black communities because the arrest rates for black thugs is just too high. Black voters have been Grubered.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/report-highest-rate-unemployment-hispanics-rhode-island-203-blacks-nevada

Calories vs. exercise

My doctor always told me that calories really do count, and it’s virtually impossible to lose weight with just exercise.

Ready to jump off the calorie-counting bandwagon? Here's what to do instead:

• Instead of counting calories, eat smaller portions. It may seem like a basic concept, but it's easy to forget that bigger portions have more calories. Most of us gauge a serving as "the amount we're used to eating," a recent study found. That would be restaurant food -- where meals are served on platters, not plates. And the more we look at (and eat) huge portions of food, the more we see them as normal -- to the point of serving ourselves the same amounts at home. Unfortunately, studies show that when we're served more, we tend to eat it. When researchers from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign served subjects bigger helpings, people ate up to 45% more food. One caveat: there's no reason to eat fewer vegetables; they're much less calorie dense than other foods (they contain fewer calories per gram). A cup of raw broccoli, for example, contains only 31 calories, while the same amount of chocolate ice cream boasts close to 285.
• Instead of counting calories, choose foods that use more calories. Some foods require more energy than others to digest and metabolize, says John Berardi, PhD, CSCS, president of Precision Nutrition, and author of The Metabolism Advantage. We call this the thermic effect of food, Aldana says. The difference is very small, he cautions, just a few calorie's difference, for example, to eat a slice of bread made from whole grains vs. one made from refined flour. (Refined flour digests easily, leaving you with the full 4 calories per gram, while whole grains use up part of their 4 calories per gram during the digestion process, he says.). For example, if a woman were to start eating only foods that take a lot of work to digest (high-fiber, protein foods) she might save about 12 to 15 calories per day, the same amount she could expend by walking for about four minutes. But for some people -- especially those stuck in sedentary jobs or crunched for time -- it just may be worth it. Besides, foods that take more work to digest, like those high in fiber, tend to be those that are better for you. And choosing the best nourishment for your body is a much healthier food focus than counting calories.
• Instead of counting calories, make sure you consume the right kind. Nearly one-quarter of Americans' calorie intake comes from sweets, desserts, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages, research from the University of California, Berkeley notes. Another 5% comes from salty snacks and fruit-flavored drinks. Nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, contribute only 10% to the average American's calorie budget. "When it comes strictly to weight loss, a calorie is a calorie, Klein says. However, when it comes to your health, it's best not to blow your calorie budget on foods that lack nutrients. Nutrient-dense choices like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains can help prevent heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, while those lacking in nutrients, like candy, soft drinks and white bread can contribute to a whole host of health problems.

Black lives matter by Mychal Massie

Blacks in Ferguson are shouting "black lives matter." I say, "Oh really, since when have black lives mattered?" Nearly 2,000 unborn black children are murdered daily with approval from Obama to Sharpton to Jackson. More than 8,000 blacks are violently murdered every year by other blacks. Blacks in predominantly black neighborhoods are figuratively held hostage by black drug dealers, black pimps, black gangs, ad nauseum. Yet when in defense of his life a police officer shot and killed a black thug, you have these fools rioting and screaming black lives matter. If black lives mattered they wouldn't be murdering one another. If black lives mattered blacks would clean up the neighborhoods they live in. If black lives mattered Obama wouldn't be president.

Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said: “This ought to be the epitaph of [the Obama] administration: In the last five years under this president more babies have been murdered than jobs have been created.” For the people who will now post ignorant comments, let me add this supporting fact. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) seasonally-adjusted employment number, over the 5 year period of obama being in office, the number of jobs created by obama shows an increase of 3.66 million as of May 2014. During the same period of time the Guttmacher Institute recorded there had been 6.6 million unborn children murdered by abortion. Yet these ignorant black people are rioting and burning down their own homes and what few businesses there are in the town, screaming "black lives matters." However, it is obvious that given the choice of telling blacks to get a job or have an abortion, Obama would opt for the abortion. - Mychal Massie (http://mychal-massie.com/premium/)

Citizens of London

Our book club selection for December is no easier than The Book Thief of last month—another WWII story, although this one isn’t fiction. The three primary figures, Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant all have their own biographies, but Lynn Olson is a master at pulling their lives, loves and contributions to England’s war effort into an interesting stew. What an amazing writer!  I’m having to skip large segments, that I’m sure are interesting and rich in detail, but I’ve only got a few more hours to finish the book.

“At this point [1941], Britain's policy of appeasing Adolf Hitler had failed, and the old appeasers were out of power. Winston Churchill had taken over as prime minister, and Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was aiding the British, but faced a U.S. Congress skeptical of actually going to war. As London endured devastating German bombing raids, some Americans were there, assuring the British of support and agitating for American entry into the war.” NPR 

What is more revealing in the book is what isn’t said: 1) even in modern times, authors will not criticize FDR for the communists in his administration who fought to keep the U.S. out of the war, and 2) inside politics regardless of whether it is Lincoln, Clinton, Bush or Obama, is a nasty, sausage making stink.

Winant’s reaction to FDR’s death I think sums up how so many minions in Washington, London, Paris, Baghdad, or Beijing feel about those whose boots need a licking:

”Despite his frustrations with a number of FDR’s policies and the president’s occasional offhand treatment of him, Winant never wavered in his support and fondness for the leader who had been his friend and close ally for more than a decade.  “I’m Roosevelt’s man,” he once said.  “If Roosevelt wants me to do anything, I’ll do it.  That’s my political future.”  In a telegram to the president several years before, Winant said simply:  “Thank God for you.” pp. 356-357

It could Holder talking about Obama—although I can’t imagine Condi Rice slobbering over Bush that way. It’s a type of loyalty and subservience usually accorded to Christ or global warming/climate change gurus.

The sexual liaisons seem to be right out of the bedrooms of Europe’s monarchs in the middle ages you read in romance novels.  Really, the sexes have made no progress at all. Or wait, maybe it’s politics that has made no progress in centuries.

OK, back to the book, and the last chapter which tells what the 3 men did after the war.  I know Winant committed suicide, and I think Harriman’s wife, Pamela Churchill, became the darling Democrat who went on to fame and glory as a political activist for the Democratic Party and a diplomat  and wrote her own autobiography including information about her sexual escapades. People my age followed the slow death from cigarettes of Edward R. Morrow.

[Mrs.] Harriman's life was equally scrutinized for her many liaisons. Her second husband once called her "the greatest courtesan of the 20th century," the Irish Times reported. "She loved men, and men loved her, and she knew how to please men," said Garry Clifford, the Washington bureau chief of People Magazine. CNN Obituary

That said, this is a lively group that has been meeting for 30 years, and they are always bright, witty and gracious. This will be our Christmas gathering at Carolyn’s home in Clintonville.  I think she is one of the “founding mothers” of the club which I didn’t join until October 2000.

Media try to blame GOP for racial divide in Missouri

While the progressive on-line news sources like the Daily Beast and Huffington Post (and some yellow journalism rags like the New York Times) try to stoke hatred for the GOP as racists, let's remember St. Louis and Ferguson are controlled by elected Democrats. The much maligned prosecutor McCulloch is a powerful player in Missouri Democratic politics. Also, most famous African American political and media leaders of national fame whose names I would recognize have been Republicans--Martin Luther King, Jr., James Weldon Johnson, Edward Brooke, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas, Booker T. Washington, Walter E. Williams, Sojourner Truth, Jackie Robinson, Snerdly (Rush Limbaugh's call screener) and Eldridge Cleaver, to name a few. Frederick Douglass was the first African American to have his name on a national party nomination (Republican) in 1888. Their writings and speeches may have set the world on fire, but they didn't burn down their community's businesses.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/11/26/ferguson-voting-matters/19536643/

http://www.thenation.com/blog/191593/inconvenient-political-truth-st-louis-prosecutor-democrat

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/black-voters-in-st-louis-county-direct-their-anger-at-the-democratic-party/2014/10/14/e6957b8a-4f02-11e4-aa5e-7153e466a02d_story.html

http://www.kmov.com/news/politics/Ferguson-fallout-reaches-race-for-county-executive--280874412.html

Ferguson blinders—Cornel West

Professor Cornel West appeared on CNN International to give his take on Ferguson, and said right at the outset, “Ferguson signifies the end of the age of Obama. It’s a very sad end. We began with tremendous hope and we end with great despair.”

Despite the huge drop in crime and violence in black neighborhoods in the last 2 decades due to better policing and stiffer penalties, he then he went on to blame the "Jim Crow" justice system--a system designed and carried out by the Democrat party.

Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011 according to the Department of Justice. About 50% of those not killed were young, black males. There were over 1.5 million firearm non-fatalities in 1993 compared to about 478,000 in 2011.

When it couldn't destroy black progress, the party invented the War on Poverty—now trillions spent and 126 transfer programs.

Really, very few people were looting and burning--and they were organized by and sent in by outsiders with a political agenda.

Meanwhile, in Kenya where our President has family

teachers are being killed, civil servants are fleeing, Muslim terrorists Al-Shabaab are attacking.

http://www.irinnews.org/report/100891/terrorism-hits-education-health-in-kenya-s-marginalized-mandera

“The northern Kenya region has historically been marginalized by successive governments, leaving access to basic social services such as education and healthcare limited. While demand for teachers stands at 20,000, there are only about 12,000 in the region, according to KNUT.

UNICEF says about 80 percent of girls in North Eastern Province are not enrolled in school.

The doctor-to-patient ratio is 1.0 to 100,000 in the larger northern Kenya region, according to Fredrick Oluga, a member of the advisory council at the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPPDU). Nationally, according to government figures, the ratio is 1.0 to 20,000. The global recommendation is one doctor for every 1,000 patients.

Indicative of the level of need in northern Kenya is the dependence on civil servants from other parts of the country. KMPPDU’s Oluga added that there are just 41 doctors in northern Kenya, forcing them to be on call 24 hours.”

Jammies

It’s never the obvious

I saw on a liberal site that the Ebola scare in the U.S. was induced by the GOP and cost Obama the Senate. Really? The media (which had a melt down over Ebola and really overdid it) are in Obama's pocket and the CDC and the HHS are controlled by Obama, and their spokespersons were all over the media. And the charges of racism when a black African died and the white Americans didn't? That was the GOP? The nurse who decided to violate her quarantine was a Democrat, right?  Now if they want to discuss the outsiders in Ferguson diverting attention of Obama's power grab over immigration, we could have a "conversation."

Our house guest this week-end is a citizen of Guinea in West Africa, which along with Sierra Leone is still having outbreaks of Ebola according to WHO.  However, he has lived in Haiti for the last two years.  He did note that when he arrived in Miami he was questioned closely by security and then allowed to pass.  He said his mother had died in July, and his sister urged him not to come home for the funeral, because then he wouldn’t have been allowed to return to Haiti.

I write because. . .

Granite vs. Formica

Does anyone else object to remodeling with an eye to "resale" years later? I just don't like paying for something that maybe, possibly someone else wants and I don't. Specifically, granite counter tops. Yes, I confess, I like Formica. There. I've said it. Granite is costly, heavy, it stains, needs maintenance, and I think it's difficult to keep bacteria free. The only thing worse is marble tile--which is what we have now. We lived in our other house 34 years; our early improvements in the 60s and 70s were old fashioned and out of date by the time we moved in 2002. The new owners ripped out most of what we'd done, with the exception of the extremely feminine wallpaper in our daughter's room (and they put their son in that room!) and then they got a divorce! This link is to a commercial site, but I like it.

http://www.formica.com/en/us/knowledge/homeowner/kitchen/things-to-know/top_6%20reasons_to_choose_solid_surfacing_over_granite

http://en.over-blog.com/Advantages_of_formica_laminate_sheets-1228321774-art312413.html

http://www.improvenet.com/r/costs-and-prices/formica-countertops

Shia LaBeouf’s performance for art

Sexual assault of men by women usually doesn't get much attention (it’s actually rather common in prisons as reported about half of sexual assaults are by female staff), but Shia LaBeouf claiming he was raped during his performance art seems a bit odd even with our gender wars thirsty media. Or maybe the fan just considered it her performance art? Maybe he wasn’t getting enough attention just by being strange? At least it got him in Time and USA Today.

http://time.com/3609444/shia-labeouf-says-he-was-raped-during-a-performance-art-project/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/11/28/shia-labeouf-i-was-raped/19608751/