Saturday, January 31, 2015

We may not get what we vote for

Sometimes we the people vote based on the person's record or our values (Candidate was a Democrat, but switches to socialist), or the slogans (hope and change) or the promises (we'll get rid of Obamacare), and then when they get to DC the old private club mentality kicks in. This is why our founders left many decisions like education, social welfare, religion, up to the states. It's easier to keep tabs on what they are doing if you know your community, city, county, and state. The president was not supposed to be more powerful than Congress and the Supremes were not supposed to make laws, but no one reads the instructions any more.

It’s outrageous that they (Republicans) will approve this woman. There is nothing I've read about Loretta Lynch that makes me confident she will be the best top cop Obama can find who is female, black and leftist. Is the bench that shallow? Her record isn't that great and she seems to be a racist who has never read the Constitution or immigration law. Why is she a shoo-in? I've looked at what some leftists have said, but that boils down to the tired, old "you're a racist” if you oppose her.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/396640/loretta-lynchs-secret-docket-ryan-lovelace

Roland Lane observes on Facebook

1. The President has informed all Americans that the Taliban is not a terrorist organization. Wow. Just like that. We feel better now.
2. Word has leaked out that Army Deserter Bowie Bergdahl was indeed a deserter but the army is sitting on the report as it has for six months.
3. One of the 5 Taliban leaders released in exchange for DESERTER Bowie Bergdahl is back in contact with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. Not surprising since Qatar, the custodian of the terrorist Taliban leaders is knee deep in acting as a conduit for terrorist activities.
4. The Russians have begun eating the Ukraine again. The Ukraine is out of news but the Soviets, excuse me, the Russians have taken a couple more cities.

Marijuana on the brain

Marijuana also affects brain development, and when it is used heavily by young people, its effects on thinking and memory may last a long time or even be permanent. A recent study of marijuana users who began using in adolescence revealed substantially reduced connectivity among brain areas responsible for learning and memory. And a large long-term study in New Zealand showed that people who began smoking marijuana heavily in their teens lost an average of 8 points in IQ between age 13 and age 38. Importantly, the lost cognitive abilities were not fully restored in those who quit smoking marijuana as adults. Those who started smoking marijuana in adulthood did not show significant IQ declines. Drug facts, Marijuana http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/06/nih-marijuana-effects/1751011/

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Dreaming of Spudnuts

#Repost @bluedream_weaver
・・・
Yup. This just happened.... @spudnutsdonuts #maplebacon #cronut #bacon #ilovebacon #cronutlife

When we were students at the University of Illinois there was a Spudnut shop in Urbana. It's gone, but this one is in Canoga, Park, CA. (There are a number of them in California).  This is a donut with maple syrup with crumbled bacon. Spudnuts got their name from a special recipe using potato flour--at least 70 years ago. There is nothing in the world better.

http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/the-spudnuts-saga-a-bite-of-donut-history-2375403

Countdown to the Apocalypse by Robert Jeffress

If you like end times, apocalyptic literature, I've received a new one to review: "Countdown to the Apocalypse; why ISIS and Ebola are only the Beginning," by Robert Jeffress, New York: Faith Words, 2015, pb 128 pp, available as e-book. I've seen Pastor Jeffress on Fox to discuss spiritual issues in the news. He's the pastor of the 11,000 member First Baptist Church in Dallas, has a daily radio show and a weekly TV program, and has authored 20 books. I'm not into signs, tribulation and the rapture, in fact, considering where the world was 100 years ago (WWI, pandemic, monetary inflation, etc.).  I think we live in good times which few of us seem to appreciate. I'm the Christian who says, "I've read the Bible, I know the ending, we win." I leave the details for God to work out.

Jeffress does list all the obligatory signs that Christians since Paul have been citing, but by Chapter 3 he gets into radical Islam and how ISIS/ISIL came to be such a problem. He ties it into specific Bible stories and scripture. Then on to moral revolution and disorder in our society which is weakening our ability to stand up to persecution. He closes with hope, with Jesus Christ, "If He comes today, we win. If He comes in 50 years, we win. If He comes in one thousand years, we win." But be prepared. Faithwords.com

The Talented Mr. Ripley (movie)

We received a free three month trial for HBO recently, and last night was the first time I actually watched an entire movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) was nominated for many awards, and world wide grossed nearly $129 million with a production budget of $40 million. 

Talented mr ripley.jpg

There are some big name actors in it, although since it was made in 1999, based on a 1955 novel, they are even bigger now—Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Seymour Huffman.  The 1950s costumes and styles were very good as was the Italian scenery.  Although the author of the book (was actually 5 books) denied that Ripley was homosexual—just confused--but he certainly is in the movie. He kills one desired lover who spurned him, one whom he loves, and a friend of the first who figured out his scam.  On the list of 329 gay themed movies at Box Office Mojo, it is #4 in gross.

It’s very dark, but the main character, played by Matt Damon, is quite interesting and the viewer is dragged protesting into liking him, at least I did.  Damaged but endearing. Tom Ripley is sent to Italy by Dicke’s father to bring him home, and instead falls in love with Dicke’s lifestyle and then Dicke, whom he later kills when he rejects him to marry his girlfriend Marge, and assumes his identity. He also has to kill Freddie, Dicke’s good friend who figures out his scam, and finally his lover Peter who is about to find out, but who knows him as Tom Ripley when others think he is Dicke.

The author of the novels on which the movie is based, Patricia Highsmith, was described by Otto Penzler, an acquaintance as “a  mean, hard, cruel, unlovable, unloving person.  I  could never penetrate how any human being could be that relentlessly ugly." So perhaps that’s how she could draw such dark, evil characters to people her novels. Her own mother didn’t help much by telling her she wanted to abort her—had even tried. (Wikipedia)

Obama drops plan to tax families of college bound

Although President Obama says he wants to help middle class families he proposed in the State of the Union speech taking away (i.e. taxing them more) their incentive to build their own account to save for college--make them even more dependent on the federal government. After loud protests, even from his own party (who seem to be catching on), he has stopped eyeing the hard earned/saved college money. The 529 plan has become very popular and about 12 million American families rely on the accounts to help with college costs. Not to worry, I'm sure he'll start lusting for our IRAs and 401-k's since it's just not fair that some of us regularly saved and invested for our retirement years when others only have Social Security or food stamps.

Q. What is a 529 plan? (IRS.gov)

Answer. A plan operated by a state or educational institution, with tax advantages and potentially other incentives to make it easier to save for college and other post-secondary training for a designated beneficiary, such as a child or grandchild.

Q. What is the main advantage of a typical 529 plan?

A. Earnings are not subject to federal tax and generally not subject to state tax when used for the qualified education expenses of the designated beneficiary, such as tuition, fees, books, as well as room and board. Contributions to a 529 plan, however, are not deductible.

http://www.savingforcollege.com/intro_to_529s/name-the-top-7-benefits-of-529-plans.php

http://www.collegeadvantage.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-drops-proposal-to-cut-tax-benefits-of-529-college-savings-plans/2015/01/27/5f3f429a-a675-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2_story.html

Nancy Pelosi has had babies, the Pope hasn’t, therefore. . .

Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. Being a Catholic doesn't mean you are capable of having babies--if that were the case, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist women would be Catholics; it means you believe the church's teachings that they had a God given right to life from conception before you popped them out. "At her Jan. 22 briefing Pelosi said she had "great standing" to speak on the issue of abortion, noting that she was a "Catholic and a mom of five" and asserting that it was "true" she knew "more about having babies than the pope." (CNSNews.com, Jan. 26) If you don't believe what your church teaches, find another church.

She could become a Protestant--there are about 23,000 Protestant denominations in which she could be the Pope every time she looked in the mirror or read a verse from scripture. Or, just find 2 or 3 others and start her own.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The trip to India and Saudi Arabia

If Obama still chews nicotine gum for his cigarette habit publicly and internationally and in front of cameras, doesn't that mean he's now addicted to the gum? It's embarrassing--especially watching him remove it with his fingers (which I assume has been shaking a lot of hands) and then putting it back. Yuk. http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessat…/…/addicted-to-nicorette

I don't generally defend Michelle Obama, but the critics of her clothing/no head covering for Saudi Arabia are just being ridiculous. Remember the outrage when Pelosi covered her head in a Muslim country! Really, folks, let's stick to policy (and rude behavior like chewing gum) and leave the ladies alone. She looked appropriate and was well covered. Should Amish or Hutterite women take off their prayer coverings when visiting a Lutheran church?

In the Christian faith, where this is done (Anabaptist groups, Catholics in an earlier time and some Pentecostals) the cover/veil is to show headship--God, then man, then woman, so the woman was acknowledging the proper male authority within the church. Since Islam took many Christian and Jewish teachings and all were middle east in origin, it may be the same source.The Obamas are United Church of Christ, or were when they lived in Chicago, and although some may wear hats it's not to show headship.

Jibber jabber or Marie and Jen

I’ve lost 11 lbs and gone over 150 miles, but it’s boring to ride the exercycle, so today I pulled my pb Roget’s Pocket Thesaurus (c. 1946) off the shelf.  Turned to UNMEANINGNESS.  Thought of this morning’s news story on Al-Jazeera deciding to forbid “terrorist” and “terrorism” from its new stories.  Of course, the President and Secretary of State’s spokestaff (Marie Harf and Jen Psaki) have already done that.  Here’s what I saw:

Absence of meaning

drivel

senselessness, empty sound

nonsense

jargon

gibberish

bombast

balderdash

babble

inanity

twaddle

trash

rubbish

absurdity

imbecility

folly

ambiguity, vagueness

gibber jabber

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

American Dreams by Marco Rubio

"If we want to restore the American Dream, we need tax policies, regulatory policies and spending policies that make America the best place in the world to invest, and the easiest place in the world to create new businesses and new jobs through innovation." Marco Rubio, American Dreams (2015), p. 11. That would mean undoing just about everything the federal government has done in the last 20 years, wouldn't it? This hasn't just happened in the last 6 years. Even if you remove the word "fair" and "gap" from the bureaucratic vocabulary, we'd have a long way to go. If fathers won't marry the mothers of their children, won't get a full time job, and turn their noses up at minimum wage, I don't see any policy or tax plan that will fix an attitude.

I think last week the president said just the opposite—raise taxes, increase regulations and discourage investment by trying to make everything “fair.”

January 27, 1945

70 years ago. Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by the Red Army of the Soviet Union. There aren't many survivors left--and most were children then. And there aren't a lot of us left who knew the survivors when we were growing up and listened to their stories. Some were victims of Soviet oppression in the Baltic states; others of the Nazis. Many churches were still resettling people in the 1950s. I went to college with young adults who were children rescued by American soldiers and later immigrated to the U.S. My husband's college roommate was an Italian war orphan. Mine was an escapee from Communist China.

In the early 1980s I became friends with a woman from Bexley (Columbus suburb) whose husband, although born in the U.S., was a child of his parents' second marriage. Both had been married and each had 3 or 4 children in the 1930s, but lost spouse and children in the Nazi concentration camps. After liberation they met each other in a camp and married, came as refugees to the U.S., started a second family for both, and had 4 more children. We are so fortunate to have this type of strength and faith as our foundation for American citizenship.

Cleaning silver plate and silver pieces the easy way

I like to set a pretty table, so every now and then the silverplate needs to be polished. That's a pain unless you learned this 5 minute trick from the internet.
1 Boil the amount of water sufficient to cover items you wish to clean (silverware, silverplate, silver platters,silver bowls or the like).
2 Tear a piece of aluminum foil to fit the bottom of the cleaning vessel; add the boiling water and baking soda, 1 Tbsp soda to 1 cup of water (Decrease amount of water and soda if only using a small amount of water). Stir together briefly.
3 Immediately submerge your tarnished silver items in the solution, making sure all surfaces are covered with the water . After only a very few minutes you will have beautifully clean and glowing silver!
4 Remove cleaned items and rinse well with clean warm water. Dry with a soft lint-free kitchen towel and go back to blogging.
June 17, 2007 004
My china gifts from my mother, my thrift store silver plate which got polished this morning, my garage sale chairs, my grandmother’s glassware and dessert bowls, a vase from friends in Finland.

Without Texas, the SOTU speech would have been very different

texasjobs1

“Since 2010, America has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and all advanced economies combined. Our manufacturers have added almost 800,000 new jobs. Some of our bedrock sectors, like our auto industry, are booming. But there are also millions of Americans who work in jobs that didn’t even exist ten or twenty years ago – jobs at companies like Google, and eBay, and Tesla.”

http://www.redstate.com/2015/01/26/rick-perrys-texas-responsible-us-job-creation/

Where are the best hotels?

U.S. News & World Report just released its Best Hotels of 2015. The rankings are separated out geographically across the United States, Caribbean, Canada and Mexico. Of the best hotels in the US, the top five were:

  1. Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa (California)
  2. The Lodge at Sea Island (Georgia)
  3. The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort (South Carolina)
  4. The Allison Inn and Spa (Oregon)
  5. The Four Season Seattle (Washington)

For the others, see the Forbes article.

Monday, January 26, 2015

I’m in Goochland County (riding my exercycle)

I’ve gone 153.4 miles since Dec. 26.  I don’t do more than a mile or two at a time because I don’t want to aggravate my bursa.

What members of a Facebook political interest group are reading--Part 2

Someone asked Fans of James Taranto's Best of the Web Today (about 8800 members)  FOBOTWT what they are reading.  Here’s part 2.  For Part 1 check here.  Links and authors are included if I can find them.  Some were using Kindle or Nook, some audio, but most print on paper.

Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway - The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Number 5 in a zombie apocalypse series.

The Book Thief

A Walk Among the Tombstones (Matthew Scudder Mysteries Series Book 10)

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (The Liberation Trilogy Book 3)

The Vault of Walt: Volume 3: Even More Unofficial Disney Stories Never Told

No shortcuts to the top: climbing the world's 14 highest peaks

Unbroken

IRS Publication 17

Black Moses... Bio of Marcus Garvey

The Making of the President 1964

How to Make an Examination of Conscience [Kindle Edition]

The Prince by Jerry Pournelle

Soldier Dogs

The Magician's Twin: C. S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society

Department of Energy, Construction Management Procedures and Practices.

50 shades of grey—a Muslim mother’s warning

This Muslim mother warns girls about the book "50 shades of grey" -- Christian moms can agree.

 http://muslimmatters.org/…/fifty-shades-grey-young-muslim-…/

Christian Grey in Real Life:

1. It is not okay to be sexually abused by someone and then accept the abuse as a lifestyle, just because the abused starts enjoying the abuse.
2. It is not okay for a man to lure a girl into marrying him with his money or good looks while expecting her to overlook his habit of objectifying women as mere sexual objects.
3. Decent men normally don't stalk girls.
4. Grey is domineering, a control freak, a stalker, and a manipulator. In real life, these character flaws cause real marital problems. Unlike Ana, most women can't endure being stalked, watched and forced into submission while compensated with wealth and erotic intimacy. In real life, most men simply do not have the luxury of gifting the company where she works to the wife while forcing her into submitting.
5. One legitimate fact in the book worth pointing out is that Grey has a problem with Ana's male friends. Yes, that I can assure you dear daughters, especially those of you who have studied with boys and have Facebook friends of the opposite gender from school or work, that your husband may raise this objection. Or if you are used to “hanging out” for school projects at a public place, he may ask you to stop doing so. You either talk this through before marriage or you should be prepared to “submit” on this point after marriage and keep in mind that in exchange for your obedience, a  luxurious ski trip to Aspen in a private jet with your girl friends is not guaranteed.

Addiction and BDSM:

6. It is not okay to marry an addict especially if a girl finds out about his addiction before the marriage. This is a serious matter and unlike the book, addicts don't lose their addiction just by marrying someone they love.
7. It can take years for an addict to overcome his addiction. Addicts almost always have relapses and those relapses can take a tremendous toll on the marriage.
8. I've come across countless men who have issues of child molestation, mother-father family issues, and desperately need therapy, but they will refuse to acknowledge any problems with their behavior let alone seek therapy. Our hero Mr. Grey, seeks counseling even before Ana asks him to seek help for his psychological issues. Dear daughters, the unfortunate fact of life is that it may take months of convincing, even arguments, and at times even family/friends' intervention, before the husband finally agrees to seek therapy.
9. It is not okay for a man to inflict physical pain on his wife for his sexual pleasure.
10.Sadism/Bondage/Submission and Dominance (BDSM) are acts of sex that may develop among couples in a halal way but it takes time. Initially a relationship needs understanding and normal intimacy. Once both partners, especially the wife, become comfortable and confident then they may experiment with different types of intimate practices.
11. After both husband and wife become comfortable with each other especially during intimacy, they may play around with different techniques and a variety of intimacy including BDSM. However, if it reaches to the point of inflicting pain where a wife starts crying with discomfort, or her eyes overflow with tears trying to endure pain, that's crossing the line. There is a difference in “delirious pain” and tearing up with pain.
12. Spanking the wife for rolling her eyes is wrong (even though it maybe an acceptable practice among the Christian Domestic Discipline). Hitting the wife with a belt to inflict physical pain for a husband's sexual pleasure is physical abuse. A decent man will draw his own limits for his sexual pleasure and a wife doesn't need to burst out in tears and start crying for him to realize that what he was doing was beastly.

Virginity and Intimacy:

13. No virgin has multiple orgasms on her first night. Do not enter your marriage with this misconception.
14. It may take days to weeks before a virgin experiences vaginal orgasm. (In rare cases, it may take up to months and may need therapy)
15. Communication and comfort is essential in making intimacy successful and pleasurable, especially for those girls who've guarded their chastity and are experiencing intimacy for the first time.
16. In normal circumstances, acts of BDSM should not be practiced on a girl who's been recently deflowered.
17. Men are not born expert-lovers. In real life, couples have to discuss their fantasies and communicate what they like and explain their desires, and not just once. Sometimes these fantasies have to be explained many times before the spouse finally understands. It may take months, sometimes years before sexual fantasies become realities. The book definitely raises the bar of expectations in many ways.
18. Yes, sex is a lot more than just penetration (as most Muslim women complain about their intimacy being dry and boring) but most Muslim men are not as experienced and “sex gurus” as Grey, especially those who have kept themselves pure before marriage.
19. Grey can read Ana's body language and knows exactly what will turn her on and what will bring her pleasure AND he is always ready to give her that. Dear daughters, in real life things are very different.
20. In the beginning of a marriage, most Muslim men don't know how to make a women experience an orgasm during every intercourse. They need to learn and the wives need to help them learn. It is a give-and-take relationship.

Romance between Ana & Grey:

21. There is never a “dull moment” in their romance. In real life, issues start rising after a few weeks of marriage–real issue—issues that need to be talked through and resolved. These issues cannot be resolved through “erotic intimacy” and “expensive gifts”.
22. Unlike Grey, men have mood swings too and they may not be romantic all the time.
23. Men want their wives to be romantic too and take initiatives and plan romantic events, dinners, outings etc. Unlike Grey, real men are not always full of romantic surprises.
24. Real men in real life have work to do at work. They simply cannot romantically email back and forth all day from work.

I hope the top 10% continues to do well—they are the ones paying most of the taxes

We have a very "progressive" income tax in the U.S.--the top 10% of earners pay over 70% of the income tax. Because I am a pensioner, my income comes from investments in my state teachers' pension and my 403-b, the 15% of my salary I socked away while I worked. (I'm not eligible for Social Security--that would be "double dipping.") Now I'm with the bottom 50% who pay about 2.3%. I can only live well if Obama and other Democrats don't target investors, risk takers, entrepreneurs, and the big spenders who keep the wheels of the economy moving.

What members of a Facebook political interest group are reading, part 1

Someone asked Fans of James Taranto's Best of the Web Today (about 8800 members)  FOBOTWT what they are reading.  Here’s a partial list. Links and authors are included if offered. Very interesting. People on social media continue to reading.  Some were using Kindle or Nook, some audio, but most probably print on paper.  Part 2 here.

Ready Player One

A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention

Gulag by Anne Applebaum

American dreams by Marco Rubio

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey

Six Weeks: The Short and Gallant Life of the British Officer in the First World War

Warped

The Brothers Karamazov

Mr. Mercedes

Hollywood Traitors: Blacklisted Screenwriters – Agents of Stalin, Allies of Hitler

Samurai!

Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965

Ghost Wars by Steve Coll 

Endangered Species by Lawrence Grobel

Falkenberg's Legion by Jerry Pournelle

The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci

Bill Quick's (aka Daily Pundit) "Lightening Fall"

"Stonewalled" by Sharyl Attkisson

Legionnaire by Simon Murray

Napoleon's Buttons

Daughter of Persia

The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War by Graham Robb

The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch

Looming Tower: Al Queda and The Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright

See Part 2 here.