These are lovely—free hymn arrangements

http://greghowlett.com/freearrangements.aspx

Also a blog with interesting stuff—and I’m certainly no musician.

http://greghowlett.com/blog/music-philosophy/danny-crawford-interview-part-1.aspx

Danny Crawford has had a 30+ year career as a performer (he was one of the founders of Karen Peck and New River) and as a studio musician. Within the world of southern gospel, he has worked with basically everyone you can think of and he has extensive experience in country and bluegrass as well (including Ricky Skaggs). Today he is off the road as a performer but plays on about 125 projects a year. (pt. 1 of an interview)

He has certainly transformed his party

How has Obama transformed America? When he was a state senator from Illinois his voting record on abortion was the most extreme of any elected politician. But he's certainly emboldened his party. The liberal fact checkers turn themselves inside out on Obama's record on abortion to twist the facts, but they can’t deny his results.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/07/barbaric-100-of-dem-senators-vote-for-late-term-abortion-up-to-nine-months-of-pregnancy/#!

http://www.nationaljournal.com/health-care/cruz-senate-democrats-abortion-bill-is-the-war-on-women-20140715

"The bill is really about just one thing: It seeks to strip away from elected lawmakers the ability to provide even the most minimal protections for unborn children, at any stage of their prenatal development," said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. "While the proposal is so sweeping and extreme that it would be difficult to capture its full scope in any short title, calling the bill the 'Abortion Without Limits Until Birth Act' would be more in line with truth-in-advertising standards."

Who reads which newspapers?

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie chart format.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have to leave LA to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and they did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy, as long as they are democrats.
10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=7237

Makes me nostalgic for when Panera’s and a few other coffee shops had a house paper for both the Columbus Dispatch and the Wall St. Journal. WSJ actually has the most liberal news coverage, but the best conservative opinion page. Using WSJ I did a comparison of the difference between male and female writers' use of idioms.

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/01/3328-e.html

Another Bush-Paulson

Former Bush Secretary of Treasury Hank Paulson is supporting Jeb Bush. Right there is a good reason to look elsewhere. Henry Paulson, the architect of the bank bailouts of 2008, is a former employee of Goldman Sachs and was a partner with Al Gore in a cap and trade scheme, a multi-billion dollar business called, Generation Investment Management (GIM). Very good at playing both sides of the aisle. Really big on getting rich with China.
http://www.paulsoninstitute.org/about/about-our-people/

Government policies

The government's role in holding back the Blacks of Baltimore. They should be very suspicious of more of the same, from segregationist city administrations to FHA to HUD to community organizers and academics on federal grants. http://www.epi.org/blog/from-ferguson-to-baltimore-the-fruits-of-government-sponsored-segregation/

Nationwide, black family incomes are now about 60 percent of white family incomes, but black household wealth is only about 5 percent of white household wealth. In Baltimore and elsewhere, the distressed condition of African American working- and lower-middle-class families is almost entirely attributable to federal policy that prohibited black families from accumulating housing equity during the suburban boom that moved white families into single-family homes from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s—and thus from bequeathing that wealth to their children and grandchildren, as white suburbanites have done.

Of course, their careers are in the toilet no matter the result of the trials

“Criminal charges filed Friday against six Baltimore police officers in the death of Freddie Gray were based on "politics and crowd control," not justice, renowned civil rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz tells Newsmax TV.

"This is a very sad day for justice . . . Today had nothing to do with justice. Today was crowd control. Everything was motivated by a threat of riots and a desire to prevent riots," Dershowitz said on "The Steve Malzberg Show."

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/Freddie-Gray-Alan-Dershowitz-police-charges/2015/05/01/id/642143/#ixzz3Z4cjiED7

I have no idea what happened to Freddie Gray, and neither do the thousands of demonstrators or the Mayor of Baltimore or Al Sharpton. I'm willing to wait for evidence and a trial. It's one of the basics of our justice system--a presumption of innocence, the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, each essential element of the crime charged. Shocking how many "leaders" are willing to ignore this.

Time for Democrats to panic

Democrats are clearly panicking. There has never been a better time to be black in America, and if word gets out, they might lose their victim voter base. So we need new riots and protests.

In the last 2.5 decades crime has dropped drastically, so it's time to gin that up by complaining about the number of black men in prison (which is why the neighborhood is safer). Blacks are now over represented in many city governments and community protection agencies, so it's time to blame the white controlled system, micro aggression, etc. The college enrollment rate is higher for black high school graduates than whites, so it's time to berate the education system. More whites are killed in officer involved shootings at a higher rate than blacks, so it's time to get on social media and tell lies. With at least 5 government health insurance systems, no black need be without health care--so it's time to blame the GOP for not making even more money available. 126 wealth transfer programs for the poor, most of which recipients are white--but don't advertise that--Democrats don't want the world to know that millions of whites don't have that mystical "privilege" they tout.

Now the bad news is out there, too--AIDS among young black gay men is the highest for any group--gay and bisexual men represent approximately 2% of the US population, but account for three-fourths of all estimated new HIV infections and blacks account for most of those. Abortion of black babies is at an all time high--genocide rates--78 percent of the abortions in New York City were for black or Hispanic babies. Where are the marches and outrage? Black men are not marrying the mothers of their children leaving many kids to grow up without a male parent. Until the 1960s, blacks were more likely to be married than whites, and then came the "war on poverty" and Uncle Sam as a step-father. But, the Democrats can ignore every academic and religious study that says family is important to economic, social and political well being and just ask for more money.

Succeeding While Black - 5 Ways to Avoid Altercations with the Police by Matthew R. Drayton, guest blogger

I have been in situations where I could have easily gotten into confrontations with police officers. Years ago, I regularly worked with local and state police officers in major cities throughout the U.S. I can tell you first hand that there are some police officers that are prejudiced or egotistical, and some that have their own agendas. I remember arriving in Texas to meet and work with local police there. When I reached out to shake one of the officer’s hands, he refused! Later during that same trip, I was almost arrested because the same police officer who wouldn’t shake my hand, failed to tell a group of his fellow officers who I was as I approached them.

On another trip to California, a police officer stood two feet in front of me and stared me down while I waited to meet with the Deputy Police Chief. I had never met this officer before, nor did I do anything to him to warrant the stare he was giving me. In both Texas and California, I was the only African American in the group; my co-workers were not subjected to the same treatment. In both cases, I had no choice but to work through whatever issues those police officers had with me. I did not respond to their behavior towards me, and worked more closely with the officers who reached out to me than the ones who didn’t. In the end, we successfully finished our work in both cities, and I made some new friends in law enforcement.
My experiences with the police were not all bad; in fact there were more positive experiences with them than negative ones. I realize some of my circumstances and encounters with the police were of a different nature than being pulled over for a routine traffic stop, but the two situations I mentioned above were intense and could have easily become confrontational. I have been stopped and pulled over by the police numerous times over the years, and I can honestly say, I have never been mistreated by a police officer. The following tips have worked for me when I have had encounters with police officers in the past. Hopefully they can help you too.

1. Obey the law: If you are breaking the law in any way; it’s only a matter of time before you have to deal with the police. Turn on your flashers, drive slowly and pull over to a well lit busy area if you are pulled over. Cooperate if you are being questioned or arrested to avoid any physical confrontation. 
2. Be polite and show respect: Greeting and treating a police officer with respect immediately de-escalates the situation. Regardless of how you feel about being pulled over or questioned, the police are authorized to do so. Mouthing off and becoming aggressive towards the police will make the situation worse.
3. Obey police officer orders: When a policeman asks you to do something reasonable, do it. Remember, these men and women are trying to do a job, and sometimes need to gather facts to do their job. Disobeying the police officer’s orders will again only make the situation worse. 
4. Make lifestyle changes: Most of the things that happen to us are a result of our decisions. Alcohol, outdated license plates, and erratic driving are a few contributors to police stops. If you are hanging out late at night with known offenders, or in places where there is a high probability of a crime, there will likely be a heavy police presence there. 
5. Educate your children: Teach your children at an early age about police brutality, and to be respectful when dealing with the police, and all adults for that matter.  Explain current events to them in an unbiased way, and make them aware of the dangers they face if they break the law, and what can happen to them at the hands of some police officers. 

It is not my intent to downplay police brutality incidents or to be insensitive to anyone who has suffered or died at the hands of the police. My purpose is to help African Americans understand that engaging an officer properly can de-escalate the situation, and possibly avoid a deadly altercation. I am a middle-aged, African American male who regrettably has had too many encounters with the police during my lifetime. I have never been arrested or beaten by a police officer, nor have I ever been disrespectful or mouthed off to one.

Retired Army Sergeant Major Matthew R. Drayton is a corporate speaker, life coach, consultant, leadership expert and author of Succeeding While Black. He has also been mentoring youth for over a decade and is currently the Executive Director of Great Oak Youth Development Center, a NC-based non-profit organization that mentors at risk youth. For more information, visit www.MattDrayton.com.

Where I am--678.2 miles since Christmas

At least I got out of Virginia (on my exercycle)

"0.84 mi to Buckhorn, KY", Breathitt County

Dessert will be pudding

A gallon of milk at Marc's today was cheaper than 1/2 gal, so we're having pudding tonight. Great price on boneless pork roast ($1.88/lb), so the last one is going into the crock pot for pulled pork (still had some in the freezer from the last special).  A quart of the Half n half ultra pasteurized was cheaper than regular.  You just never know when you shop there.

Losing our religious freedom

When we warned about loss of religious freedom they just shouted us down. In the U.S. telling people to shoot white police is protected speech; telling people that marriage is for a man and woman is not going to be protected speech or freedom of religion.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/obama-admin-catholic-schoolss-non-profit-status-will-be-an-issue-if-gay-marriage-made-a-right/

As marriage and religious liberty expert at the Heritage Foundation Ryan Anderson observed, when Justice Samuel Alito asked the Obama administration’s Solicitor General Donald Verrilli whether a religious school could lose its tax-exempt status if it affirms marriage as the union between a man and woman, Verrilli responded, “It’s certainly going to be an issue. I don’t deny that. I don’t deny that, Justice Alito. It is it is going to be an issue.”

Anderson related this discussion to Justice Antonin Scalia’s concern about the effects of a Supreme Court-created constitutional right to same-sex marriage on religious liberty. Verrilli responded that there have been no violations against religious liberty in states that have redefined marriage in democratic fashion. Scalia observed, “They are laws. They are not constitutional requirements. That was the whole point of my question. If you let the states do it, you can make an exception. … You can’t do that once it is a constitutional proscription.”

“Not only is there nothing in the Constitution that requires the redefinition of marriage, but a ruling saying that there was could create unimaginable religious liberty violations,” writes Anderson. “These situations are best handled democratically.”

Man attacks bear to save his Chihuahua

“I hit him with an overhand right—and hard,” Moore said. “His head snapped around, and he stumbled. I’m a 192-pound, 6-foot-2½ man, and the bear outweighed me, but I was taller.”

The septuagenarian slugger said his fist landed “right in the jaw, right below his eye and part of his snout.”

Link

Six pounds is a big Chihuahua.

Get out while you can.

Leave the party of ignorance of history, dumb on biology and naive about culture. Forget the party that thinks a 7 month old unborn baby isn't a human, but a man with an amputated penis is a woman. Forget the party that destroyed Detroit and Baltimore. Forget the party that believes marriage and birth rate isn't important for the survival of a nation. Leave the party of fear--fear of global warming, fear of the Constitution, fear of words, fear of food, fear of differences, fear of having no victims they can pity and manipulate. Leave the party that whips up hate and racism, bigotry and ignorance. Get out while you still can. Republicans have a very deep, diverse bench. Democrats have Hillary.

http://www.wildwestcycle.com/f_pensees.htm

For the modern liberal, who is essentially a man of the Left, the immediate has apocalyptic urgency. He is an active member of the Cause-of-the-Month Club, forever prescribing drastic action to prevent the world from being blown up, overpopulated, poisoned, oppressed, or exploited. He thinks a government that maintains law and order--a big job at any time--is "doing nothing"; because to his mind a steady and quiet activity is nothing more than inactivity. Though he speaks the language of environmental preservation well enough, he never pauses to imagine the "environmental impact" of his own policies on a social ecology that is, after all, no less real because he disregards it.

An insider’s view—sometimes there’s no solution, guest blogger Chris Botkin from Ohio

I work as a laborer in a sandwich packaging plant. I've been there 17 years. The sandwiches go to convenience stores, and vending machines, and institutions like schools and prisons. My little group tapes the boxes of sandwiches shut, separates the boxes by item, stacks the boxes on pallets and records the daily production. It's physical; today we handled about 10 tons of product. There are four of us, three (including yours truly) do the hand-stacking.

It's a different world than many of you inhabit. My coworkers start at $8.50 an hour. Many have felony records, mostly for possession, but some much worse. Turnover is insanely high: the work ethic is not, let's say, universal.

Today, one of my crew had to leave at noon for an emergency doctor appointment he received by phone at about 10:30 am. He has a nightmare of medical conditions I won't go into, the call today was from an oncologist. He tries hard, he has his own business on the side (a bait shop on a nearby lake). He is 25.

Today, another of my crew left an hour and a half early. He is the archtypical good-ole-boy: big, rowdy, randy and without much common sense. Multiple layoffs, multiple arrests, he needs off early once a month (not today) to meet his parole officer. He is trying to turn his life around. We'll see. He's a loose cannon. But he left early today because his mother is in the ICU on life support for advanced pneumonia. He had just received a call from his dad. He looked very upset.

For me, these situations shed a somewhat different light on the health care debate. Without a time machine or assistance, there is no way these folks can pay their medical bills. Hospitals and physicians deserve to be paid. I am highly skeptical that Obamacare is helping, but something has to help.

I'm as old as both these guys' ages combined, and yet I totter along relatively unscathed: all original parts and enough sap to get through the day. I feel it at night, and I need my weekends to recoup, but no complaints. Today made me think about retiring, though. Life's too short. If only I could afford to retire.

I'm posting this  because none of my coworkers will see it, and it reflects at least peripherally on political debate, and it's on my mind tonight. Sometimes, life's just a bitch.

Get out the pop corn because

We saw this in the theater.  You’ll love this old fashioned love story. Home DVD of Old Fashioned will be coming to stores and online retailers on JUNE 16.

You just wanted to make history by voting for the black candidate. . . and look what you did

Susan Elizabeth lives in Columbus.  She writes:

Just when I thought I was safe this year, the letter comes from my health insurance company. Another 11% raise in premiums. So I decided to look to see what has happened to my premiums since Obamacare passed. My deductible went from $2500 per year to $5000 per year. Before Obamacare, I had a policy where ER visits and 30 days of follow up care were covered 100% with no deductible. Once Obamacare passed, my insurance company went under and I was grandfathered over to my current policy which I've had since August, 2010. At that time, my monthly premium was $261.86 (up from $237 that I was paying with the company that went under). Then the monthly premiums have gone up in June of each year to the following premiums.

• 2011: 268.02
  2012: $364.49
  2013: $442.86
  2014: $566.07
  2015: $630.70

I was promised I would save $2500 per year. Instead, I am now paying $4724 more per year. I now have to spend $12568.40 out of pocket before my insurance covers the cost of our prescriptions, doctor's visits etc.

Sad thing is, I consider myself lucky...many people are paying a hell of a lot more than I am. The exact same policy through the exchanges would have cost me $900+ per month in premiums.

With everything else going on in the world (earthquake, riots, all of the Hillary scandals, Iran getting nuclear capabilities), let's not forget we have 633 days of destruction ahead from the current POTUS. Hopefully, more of you will realize the damage you have done by "making history" with your vote.

Thoughts on Baltimore and what to do and not do

Race riots seem to be much worse under Obama than any leadership the last 3 decades, but actually I don't think he can accept the credit for social media inflaming people who don't have enough to do. Same Ferguson trouble makers and thugs are leading the charge in Baltimore via social media. A data mining firm has found that Ferguson social media accounts are linked to Baltimore calls for action. Professional trouble makers. Poor high school kids suckered again.   But even they can't take credit for that mayor's loose lips.

I heard Michael Steele [highest elected black politician--Republican--Lieutenant Governor of Maryland (2003–2007) until Obama] discussing what young black men in Baltimore need. Actually, he sounded like a Democrat--not a word about married parents and good role models. I can't imagine a bank or business willing to invest in those neighborhoods and bring in jobs after the looting and arson with a mayor who ordered police to stand down. So that only leaves government grants for sticky fingered local politicians.

"What went up in flames in Baltimore Monday night was not merely a senior center, small businesses and police cars. Burning down was also the blue-city model of urban governance." [WSJ] With the exception of 2 terms (same guy), all Baltimore mayors since 1931 have been Democrats. There's a huge funnel filled with federal money into all Democrat (and many Republican) regimes at the local and state level. 50 years of LBJ's War on Poverty and 20% of families have no income earner; 50 years of failed Head Start and many graduate from high school with no skills for a job; 126 federal transfer programs taking your tax money, laundering it through DC bureaucracies and then returning a fraction of it to the people who need it. $22,000 for every poor person in America. No wonder looting looks good--the government does it!

When your toddler/puppy runs into traffic, drastic action is necessary and you might lose your cool and the book learning on how to use firm words of discipline. The Baltimore mom who grabbed and slapped her teen son and then it went viral on the internet and news channels was trying to save his life. I would have done the same thing. She's now a media icon--I've watched her on Fox and NBC. Interesting to see the editing by the MSM compared to Fox. She said her son isn't a perfect kid, but he's her kid. You go, mama.

I was watching the Baltimore looting, I must say I didn't know toilet paper was in such short supply that the 5 finger discount would be so popular. I counted 32 charter schools in Baltimore city; I wonder if any of those students participated in the justice riots.

It’s not true what you’ve heard about Baltimore

These man on the street interviews by the media of people milling around in Baltimore make no sense, nor do the memes floating around the social media about how bad things are. Black mayor, black police, black president, black attorney general, etc., all seem to be afraid of black gangs and thugs. According to the BLS, Baltimore is doing better than the rest of the U.S.A. economically in many areas.  I’ve listen to some people call the talk shows and they sound like they’re reading from a script, but can’t identify a particular crime which affected them.

I also counted the charter schools in Baltimore—32 I think.  I’m guess those kids did not join in the rioting when school let out yesterday.

The White House sending representatives to the funeral but not to the funerals for the blacks killed in Chicago, day after day, mostly killed by other blacks, probably hasn’t helped the image of this presidency which seems to delight in exacerbating race relations beginning with the “Boston police acted stupidly” in 2009.

http://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/summary/blssummary_baltimore.pdf

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/27/obama-to-send-aide-to-freddie-gray-funeral-in-baltimore/

http://homicides.suntimes.com/victims/

http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/charter_schools/docs/BaltCity.htm

Penn Jillette’s 105 lb. weight loss

Penn Jillette (atheist, libertarian entertainer) was on Glenn Beck again last night, and I'd noticed his weight loss the last time, so I looked it up. 105 lbs. Even on 6'7" that shows.

“I was on six very powerful meds to bring the blood pressure down,” Jillette, 60, tells PEOPLE. “My doctor said I needed to get my weight down, and if I brought it down 30 or 40 lbs. it would be a little easier to control. And then he said something in passing that completely blew my mind – he said, ‘If you got down to 230, you probably wouldn’t need any of the meds.’ ”

I don't think I could follow his diet. http://greatideas.people.com/2015/04/08/penn-jillette-weight-loss-las-vegas-home/

His typical daily diet consists of an “enormous salad” with vinegar as dressing for lunch (he doesn’t usually eat breakfast) and a dinner consisting of 3 lbs. of greens and three servings of black or brown rice with a vegetable stew, along with lots of fruits for dessert (his favorite is “an enormous amount of blueberries with plain cocoa powder”) and vegetables with vinegar or Tabasco sauce as a snack.

Notice the cocoa powder? Good for cognitive function and weight loss.

Relief for the Nepal Earthquake

I see FaceBook is urging me to support Nepal, and I will through an organization I know and trust. Check with your church first. Too many scams out there. Lutheran World Relief puts aside theological and synod squabbles and works for the poor and injured. Mennonite Central Committee is another--they were already working Nepal. Since the first century, Catholics have had the largest and most successful social service and disaster relief programs in the world, so Catholic Relief Services would be good.

Sue Noll is recommending Nazarene Compassionate Ministries; Judi Gertz suggests Samaritan Purse; Orah Zipper recommends the Jewish JDC (Joint Distribution Committee).