Don’t cook much, but love to look

I bought this nice hard cover Taste of Home at Marc’s last week for $2.93.  I’ll put it on the coffee table to browse while “watching” TV. Maybe it will inspire me to try something new, but I really think I’m buying more processed or store baked foods now than when I worked and didn’t have time.

Taste of Home 2004,  Taste of Home 1998  Premiere issues 1993 Taste of Home Quick Cooking

It was announced in 2002 that Reader’s Digest Association Inc . acquired Reiman Publications LLC for US$760 million cash, and also completed US$950 million in syndicated financing that was partially used to fund the Reiman purchase. Link. Initially, there was little change in the folksy format or style, but the most recent Taste of Home I saw looked like any other recipe magazine, including lots of ads and coupons.

On the cover is Best Chocolate Raspberry Torte (p. 57)

Guess who hasn’t read the violent crime statistics of the DoJ? CNN

Or as the Department of Justice delicately puts it: “The demographic characteristics of homicide victims and offenders were different from the characteristics of the general population.”

Most violent crime is intrarracial—93% black on black, 87% white on white. But the rate of crime is much, much higher for blacks.  In fact, in numbers, more blacks are victims/offenders than whites even though they are only 13% of the population.

Blacks were disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders. The victimization rate for blacks (27.8 per 100,000) was 6 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000). The offending rate for blacks (34.4 per 100,000) was almost 8 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000). Young black men are at much greater risk walking the streets of their neighborhood than they would be knocking over a minority owned store and confronted by a policemen (who would probably be black).  http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf

Violent crime has been drastically reduced in the last two decades.

1 in 4 police are members of a minority.

Black infants are substantially more at risk for homicide than are other infants. In 2011, the homicide rate for black infants was 15.3 per 100,000, while Hispanic and white infants had rates of 6.0 and 4.9 per 100,000, respectively. However, the rate for black infants has decreased greatly since 1990, when it was at 24.5 per 100,000.  http://www.childtrends.org/

The Bed Brigade of St. John’s Lutheran

A woman from St. John's told me about this vital ministry when she delivered baby gifts to the pregnancy center--the bed brigade. Watch the video. Very touching.

This is one of the most interesting and unique ministries I’ve heard about.  Church members build bed frames, supply new mattresses, and then witness to the recipient about the love of Jesus when they are delivered to homes in need.

 http://www.stjohnsgc.org/…/BedBrigade/tabid/163/Default.aspx

Our Purpose: We have been called by God to build beds and deliver them free of charge to those in our midst who need them.  In doing this, we are engaging our church family of St. Johns in a service ministry that meets a very basic need that is unmet for so many.  This allows Jesus to work through our hands to love others on his behalf.  Our purpose is to meet a real need and to point others to the love and truth of Jesus Christ.

There is also one in Circleville.

St. John’s is located at 3220 Columbus Street, Grove City, Ohio, 43123 ~ (614)875-2314.  Scott Ness is the Associate Pastor at St. John’s.  I watched him grow up; in fact I remember when his mom was pregnant.

Pastor Brodie Taphorn graduates--again

I think this is a business degree.  He’s one of the pastors at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church.

Rejoice

      

This is "Gaudete" Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent. In Latin, Gaudete is a positive command that means, "Rejoice!"  St. Paul tells the Thessalonians, "Rejoice always!"  As far as I can tell that’s not followed by an under the breath,  “except,” or “unless,” or “that’s too hard,” or even, “what about the terrible news today.”

“That's impossible, what he's saying is impossible, it can't be done,” you're right, from the human viewpoint. It is not natural. It is, however, supernatural joy, and that's the kind of joy we're talking about. We're not talking about happiness which comes from happenings, or happenstance, or because something just happens to be good. We're not talking about a shallow, superficial, emotional response to positive circumstance. We're talking about not a natural joy, but a supernatural joy. It is a joy at another level. It's a divine level. That is why it says in Galatians 5, “The fruit of the Spirit is love” – what's the second one – joy.” That is why in Romans 14 you have in verse 17 that marvelous statement that “the Kingdom is made up of joy in the Holy Spirit.” It is a spiritual joy. It is a Holy Spirit joy. It is a supernatural joy.”  Grace to You

Today’s date

Mia Love and Ted Cruz know more about the Constitution than the President

The president said about 22 times in public (according to John Boehner, a great flip flopper himself) that he lacked the constitutional authority to enact amnesty for illegal aliens without permission of Congress. [Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. ]

"Every senator in this body should be put on record whether he or she believes it is constitutional for a president to disregard, to ignore federal immigration laws, and to grant blanket amnesty to millions in defiance of both the laws on the books and the voters" - Ted Cruz, son of Cuban immigrant.

"It is Congress’ job under Article 1,Section 8, to create a uniform rule of naturalization, a way in. It should be done line by line, section by section with the input of the public instead of being done by one person. It looks more like a dictatorship when a president is unilaterally making decisions for the American people." Mia Love, daughter of Haitian immigrants

The slippery slope of words

Michael Smith writes: "What does it say about a society that has grown comfortable with cursing so ubiquitous as to be a normal part of conversation while being uncomfortable with words like "illegal alien", "gay" or "Merry Christmas?""

I like the term "undocumented Democrat" as a replacement for "illegal alien" which offends the sensitivities of people in Cleveland, Ohio, who don't live near the Texas/Mexico border.

"Gay" used to be a pejorative (addicted to pleasure and dissipation), but has come into its own, and now even "queer" has become quite acceptable, as is "trany."

I think, since the word "holiday" comes from holy day (hāligdæg, hālig "holy" + dæg "day"), we could compromise with "Blessed holy days" as an acceptable substitute for Merry Christmas, bringing in Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, and any others who want to join in on pleasant greetings of the season. The Bible used the Greek word makarios, which means to be happy or blissful. So why not have a happy blissful holy day?

Agonizing over the Democrats’ CIA torture report?

Abortions cut off legs and arms, suck out brains, or vacuum contents

Sometimes it’s the same people worrying about our “values” that allow torturing a terrorist suspect who think “choosing” to end the life of an unborn child is OK because it’s up to the woman.

“Surgical abortion empties the contents of your uterus and is usually performed within 12 to 14 weeks from your last normal menstrual period (first-trimester). However, the procedure can be done up to 20 weeks (mid-trimester). The procedure involves "vacuum aspiration" of the contents of the uterus.”

https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/birth-control-pregnancy/pregnancy/surgical-abortion

Suction pulls apart the fetus’ body and out the uterus. After suction, the doctor and nurses must reassemble the fetus’ dismembered parts to ensure they have all the pieces.

http://www.birthmothers.org/extras/types-of-abortions.htm

Finding bin Laden

Heads and apologies are rolling at Sony

Hollywood hypocrisy? Fake kissy face? Oh surely not! The Sony hack shows you should never say in an e-mail what you wouldn't say to the face. . . of the president.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/11/a-sony-exec-cracks-jokes-about-obamas-race-and-eight-more-bruising-revelations-from-the-sony-leak/

Only 9% consider race an important news topic--the economy and terrorism are at the top. But if Hollywood is joking about Obama, maybe that should be a little higher.

Outraged

Highlights of prisoner statistics of the Bureau of Justice, 2013

• U.S. state and federal correctional facilities held an estimated 1,574,700 prisoners on December 31, 2013, an increase of 4,300 prisoners from yearend 2012.
• The 3-year decline in the prison population stopped in 2013 due to an increase of 6,300 inmates (0.5%) in the state prison population.
• The federal prison population decreased in size for the first time since 1980, with 1,900 fewer prisoners in 2013 than in 2012.
• The number of prisoners sentenced to more than a year in state or federal prison increased by 5,400 persons from yearend 2012 to yearend 2013.
• The number of persons admitted to state or federal prison during 2013 increased by 4%, from 608,400 in 2012 to 631,200 in 2013.

In 2012, the most recent year for which offense data were available, 16 percent of state prisoners and 51 percent of federal prisoners were serving sentences for drug offenses. Violent offenders equaled 7 percent of the federal prison population, compared to 54 percent of state prisoners.

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5110

Rape and sexual assault at colleges

Among college-age females (ages 18 to 24), the rate of rape and sexual assault was 1.2 times higher for NONSTUDENTS than students for the period 1995–2013, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today[Dec. 11, 2014]. Nonstudents (65,700) accounted for more than double the average annual number of rape and sexual assault victimizations compared to students (31,300). Press release

Kristallnacht American style

Daniel Henninger, writing in the Wall Street Journal about the mobs invading NYC businesses, smashing windows, disrupting shoppers during the Christmas shopping season, and destroying property with the approval of the mayor and the encouragement of the president of the United States: "If we have learned anything in the past century, it is that when politically approved mobs start invading shopkeepers and smashing their windows in the name of politics, it is a sign that a society is veering off the rails." In 1930s Germany the elected government and local police stood by while businesses and targeted groups were terrorized an demonized. People were looking for someone to blame, so then it was "rich Jews." Now it's "white privilege." Goons just the same; mobs who have no idea what they are protesting. And now you don't even need a charismatic leader--you've got the internet to hype the lies. (HT Harry Lewis.)

Dr. Ben Carson on victimhood

Who are the racists?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBAEJlR4pk#t=13

Those who believe blacks are capable, or those who believe they need special help, different standards? Those who believe blacks can obtain an ID needed for almost all transactions in modern society, or those who think they are incapable of getting one? Those who send their own children to private schools but want to close charters, or those who think blacks will do better outside the public system, just like the liberals kids?

Feinstein apologizes for CIA during Bush years with report prepared only by Democrats

Republicans didn't participate in the so-called "Senate" torture report. Will this be another case that the narrative matters more than the truth? The Intelligence committee's Democratic staff who are researchers but not experience in what happened after 9/11 prepared the $40 million classified 6,300-page report and its 600-page, declassified executive summary. What could possibly go wrong with only one party in charge? Like with the ACA? All the major players signed off on this.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2014/dec/09/cia-torture-report-released-senate

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-09/cia-misled-congress-about-terror-interrogations-report-finds

http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2007/12/09/democrats-on-waterboarding-then-versus-now/

And it just had to come out the day of Jonathan Gruber’s testimony on how he helped confuse Democrats (called them “stupid”) with his expert advice (received about $6 million through 3 administrations), which the mainstream probably would have ignored anyway.

Democrats who were told exactly what was going on are running for cover, lying as they go.  Better to use drones, as Obama does, and don’t take any prisoners who could provide information. Just wipe out residential neighborhoods where they might be hiding.

Reducing violent crime—how it was done, 1992-2012

“In the last 50 years, the United States experienced an extraordinary increase, followed by an equally extraordinary decrease, in the number of Americans victimized by violent crime. Between 1960 and the early 1990s, violent crime in the United States increased dramatically. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports, the number of violent crimes in the United States rose from 288,460 in 1960 to 1,932,274 in 1992. The number of murders rose from 9,110 in 1960 to 23,760 in 1992. The number of rapes rose from 17,190 in 1960 to 109,062 in 1992; robberies from 107,840 in 1960 to 672,478 in 1992; and aggravated assaults from 154,320 in 1960 to 1,126,974 in 1992.

According to the Bureau of Justice  Statistics' National Victimization Survey, 10,015,769 Americans were victims of violent crime in 1992, up from 7,827,356 in 1973 (the first year of the survey). The causes underlying these increases have been debated for decades in universities, in legislatures, and around kitchen tables. But one fact is beyond debate: the country reacted to this extraordinary increase in violent crime with extraordinary policy changes and public safety investments at all levels of government.”

“. . . Between 1992 and 2010, the number of violent crimes in the United States dropped remarkably. The number of murders in 2010 was down to 14,748 from 23,760 in 1992. The number of rapes was down to 84,767 from 109,062 in 1992. The number of robberies was down to 367,832 from 672,478 in 1992, and the number of aggravated assaults was down to 778,901 in 2010 from 1,126,974 in 1992.10 According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' National Crime Victimization Survey, about 3,817,380 Americans were victims of violent crime in 2010, down from 10,015,769 in 1991. And these accomplishments were achieved at the same time the enforcement community made a new commitment to prevent and detect terrorist activity at home and abroad.”  Letter from Assistant Attorney General, Dec. 23, 2012

Reasons for the improved safety of Americans is debated, but they include (a huge budget increase, of course) the following:

• reforms to policing
• increases in the number of police on the streets
• reforms to criminal sentencing,
• increases in prison and detention populations
• a commitment to reducing illegal drug use and drunk driving,
• increases in treatment capacity
• recognition that almost all those who go to prison are someday released
• efforts to reduce reoffending
• promote effective prisoner reentry
• drug courts
• "hot spot" policing
• CompStat,
• AMBER Alert system,
• new commitment to victims of crime and their right to be treated with dignity and respect.

Report to the Sentencing Commission as required by law, December 23, 2012, Assistant Attorney General of the United States.

Violent crime in the United States, 2013

Jonathan Gruber’s excuse

“I’m not a politician, and I was using inexcusable language to make myself sound smarter than I really am.”  He said it over and over to Trey Gowdy, House Oversight Committee,  and said he was not a politician.  But he sure did sound like one. He’s received over $6 million from the federal government. “Glib, thoughtless and inexcusable language” he said over and over.

http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/12/gruber-gets-gowdy-ed/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1PCuTLrfcE