I’ll be taking a blogging break, but I’ll be back

There are Americans who believe we are “The Great Satan” along with Iranian leaders

Self hate is not attractive, Democrats.

Blood on his hands and unpaid taxes on the profits

Terrie Hubbard owner of Capital Care Network abortion clinics (Toledo and Columbus) and manager/operator of the Columbus Founder's clinic, has been sued by the City of Columbus for failing to pay back taxes on an estimated $1.2 million dollars of the estimated 1.6 million earned from 2011 to 2013. In a lien filed a few weeks ago on back-taxes in 2012 and in a lawsuit filed in May for 2013 taxes, Columbus claims the clinic owes more than $50,000.

That is a lot of blood money. How many babies have to die to get that sort of profit? A "good" abortionist can make more before lunch of one day than keeping those patients full term. Don't tell me it's about women's health--it's the money.

According to Secretary of State records, Founders is owned by Downtown Gynecologists. Downtown Gynecologists is owned by a trio of physicians, two of whom perform abortions at Founders and one of whom is a retired OBGYN and appears to be a member of Worthington City Council. (GCRTL, Greater Columbus Right to Life story)

More research on diverging classes going nowhere

“In 2013–14, Harvard Business School (HBS) conducted its third alumni survey on U.S. competitiveness. Our report on the findings focuses on a troubling divergence in the American economy: large and midsize firms have rallied strongly from the Great Recession, and highly skilled individuals are prospering. But middle- and working-class citizens are struggling, as are small businesses."

Isn't that a shock.  Here’s my take, Porter and Rivkin.

1)  The transfers, billions and billions, are not factored in for the lowest income;

2) those transfers often result in a single mom with 2 kids using 5 or 6 of the more popular programs like SNAP, Medicaid, Section 8, EITC, will have twice the income of the new minimum, so even if she wanted a good job, we've disincentivized her from accomplishing anything.

3) Government regulations are killing the very small businesses, maybe in her neighborhood, that would employ her and provide the tax base which would give her and the kids a future.

4) The most recent Obamacare mandates and EPA regulations are hurting the poor and low income the hardest by damaging small businesses, further preventing them from moving up. Beefing up the bridges and roads and stiffening education requirements will hardly undo that damage.

Quickly looking through the report I see the authors suggest more money for public transportation and more money for education and basic skill building.

http://www.hbs.edu/competitiveness/Documents/an-economy-doing-half-its-job.pdf

Obama’s legacy? A destroyed Democrat party?

No two-term president in recent times has seen his party clobbered in both midterm elections. Politico, a left of center political website: 

“When Obama came into the White House, it seemed like the Democrats had turned a corner generationally; at just 47, he was one of the youngest men to be elected as president. But the party has struggled to build a new generation of leaders around him. Eight years later, when he leaves office in 2017 at 55, he’ll actually be one of the party’s only leaders not eligible for Social Security. Even as the party has recently captured more young voters at the ballot box in presidential elections, its leaders are increasingly of an entirely different generation; most of the party’s leaders will fade from the national scene in the years ahead. Its two leading presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are 67 and 73. The sitting vice president, Joe Biden, is 72. The Democratic House leader, Nancy Pelosi, is 75; House Whip Steny Hoyer is 76 and caucus Chair James Clyburn is 75, as is Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, who will retire next year. It’s a party that will be turning to a new generation of leaders in the coming years—and yet, there are precious few looking around the nation’s state houses, U.S. House or Senate seats.

Barack Obama took office in 2009 with 60 Democrats in the Senate—counting two independents who caucused with the party—and 257 House members. Today, there are 46 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, the worst showing since the first year after the Reagan landslide. Across the Capitol, there are 188 Democrats in the House, giving Republicans their best showing since Herbert Hoover took the White House in 1929.

This is, however, the tip of the iceberg. When you look at the states, the collapse of the party’s fortunes are worse. Republicans now hold 31 governorships, nine more than they held when Obama was inaugurated. During the last six years the GOP has won governorships in purple and even deep blue states: Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio. In the last midterms, only one endangered Republican governor—Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania—was replaced by a Democrat. (Sean Parnell in Alaska lost to an independent.) Every other endangered Republican returned to office.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/democratic-blues-121561#ixzz3lSgRv52K

Unfortunately, the Republican voters, or those registered that way, are chasing after Donald Trump and appear to be throwing away this opportunity to have another “Team of Rivals” in our federal government.

On that great day of judgment, there will be no delete; there will be no erase

Maybe it was all the fuss about Josh Dugger the reality TV star, but I just today saw an article about Billy Graham’s grandson Tullian Tchividjian resigning his pastorate due to an affair. Hadn’t seen anything on the internet. Then when I poked around the archives, I see the church he took over in 2009 (Kennedy’s church) had a bad split within a few months and a group left led by Kennedy’s daughter and started a new church. That group must be feeling a little smug—or maybe not.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/august/tullian-tchividjian-files-for-divorce.html

Tullian Tchividjian is now using Facebook and Twitter to confess, muse, and reflect on God’s forgiveness.  It’s a strange, strange world.

Then I saw that R.C. Sproul’s son, a widower and well known Christian author and theologian, got caught up in the Ashley Madison mess. Oh my. Good reason not to make your pastor your reason to be in church.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/august/ligonier-suspends-rc-sproul-jr-over-ashley-madison.html

"The reality is that we all sin before the eyes of the watching God of Heaven and Earth. Not only that, but all of our sins will one day be publicly exposed. On that great day of judgment, there will be no delete; there will be no erase; there will be no way to hide all that all of us have done. It is my hope that this kind of cyber assault might wake us up to that reality."  R.C. Sproul, Jr.

Occupational licensing fees are a permanent money source for states

“Licensing is done by the states, and requirements vary widely from state to state. There are 1,100 different professions licensed in America, but only 60 are licensed by every state. Requirements also vary. Michigan requires security guards to have thee years of education, while no other state requires more than eight months.

Who is hurt by burdensome licensing requirements? Military spouses have to move frequently from state to state and licenses aren’t easily transferred. Immigrants find licensing boards produce impenetrable requirements. People with any criminal conviction may find themselves perpetually barred from a licensed profession, even if the license has nothing to do with the crime. Ex-prisoners also have to wait up to a year for a decision from a licensing board, forcing them to be idle even as they struggle to re-enter the labor force.

But the primary victims of licenses are the poor. One study found that dental visits cost 9-11 percent higher in states with tight requirements for licensing hygienists than states with looser requirements. A 2012 report from the state of New York found that 95 percent of the people in court for eviction notices or consumer debt cases weren’t represented by lawyers because they couldn’t afford them. New York State bars lower-cost paralegals from representing the poor in these routine cases.”

http://www.philanthropydaily.com/on-problems-with-occupational-licenses/

Occupational licensing, also called occupational licensure, is a form of government regulation requiring a license to pursue a particular profession or vocation for compensation. Professions that can have a large negative impact on individuals, like physicians and lawyers, require occupational licenses in most developed countries, but many jurisdictions also require licenses for professions without that possibility, like plumbers, taxi drivers, and electricians. Licensing creates a regulatory barrier to entry into licensed occupations, and this results in higher income for those with licenses and usually higher costs for consumers.

“Licensing advocates argue that it protects the public interest by keeping incompetent and unscrupulous individuals from working with the public. However there is little evidence that it has an impact on the overall quality of services provided to customers by members of the regulated occupation.” Wikipedia, from http://www.ij.org/with-professor-morris-kleiner

Happy No-Labor Day

“As Americans celebrated the Labor Day weekend, nearly 94 million people of working age actually had nothing to celebrate. That’s because they aren’t in the labor force. They’re not working and they’re not looking for a job. The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the labor force participation rate is now 62.6 percent, a 38 year low.”

“A mother with two children participating in seven common welfare programs would enjoy more income than what she would earn from a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. In Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, welfare pays more than a $20-an-hour job. “

http://www.forbes.com/sites#/sites/johngoodman/2015/09/09/why-does-anyone-work/

Government aid is bi-partisan—Republicans vote for increases almost at the same level as Democrats.  It means VOTES!  But obviously it’s not best for the individual, the family or the country.

This Dane thinks something’s rotten in Denmark (socialism)

“Without any doubt, socialism democratically is a slow subliminal, passive-aggressive process. It takes decades and generations to subdue the more independent right wing and create co-dependency to fully establish and achieve neo-communism. This describes the exact process that has slowly but steadily taken place over a 150 to 180 year span in Denmark, as well as throughout most of Europe. Rolled out over decades, this process ultimately achieves its goal of blinding society’s citizens to think of this malignant collectivist mentality as an ordinary part of their culture."

http://manipulism.com/

Hillary’s apologies?

Politicians give the "sorriest" apologies I've ever heard. Not just Hillary, but she's first on the list today. She apologized for 2 accounts not the private server. She claims it was approved, and everyone (including the president) knew. Is that shifting the blame or what? And the woman investigating is a donor to the Hillary campaign? Did I hear that right? Last spring they talked about Hillary 3.0. Is this 4.0?

Stop the Iran deal

Barack Obama has negotiated a deal with the leader of Iran who calls the U.S. "The Great Satan" and who swears Israel won't exist in 25 years. Obama has had to drag his own party kicking and screaming, with no votes from Republicans, and over 70% of the country against it. He calls it a victory. I'd hate to see a defeat.

Ferguson and Black Lives Matter, but only some

"The reality is that Michael Brown is dead because he robbed a convenience store, assaulted a uniformed officer and then made a move for the officer’s gun. The reality is that a cop is six times more likely to be killed by someone black than the reverse." WSJ on the phony "Black Lives Matter" movement which will primarily hurt the poor.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/black-lives-matterbut-reality-not-so-much-1441755075

Hang on Sloopy, 50th anniversary as OSU song

When we came to Columbus in 1967 I worked in cataloging at the OSU Libraries as a cataloguer of Slavic material--I even typed cards using a Cyrillic typewriter--that's how much things have changed. What hasn't changed is the 50 year popularity of "Hang on Sloopy" for football games. I remember listening to the chatter on Monday of the game on Saturday and the almost worship of the band, even if the team didn't win. So what can you get if read up on the history of Sloopy (she was a girl in an Afro-Cuban pop song made popular by the McCoys)?

“The pillaging of black culture and mistreatment of black musicians have been part of American music from the first minstrel show to the present.”  Ted McDaniel, Professor Emeritus.

It was first recorded by a black group, The Vibrations, and did not become a hit, but did when performed by the McCoys, a white group.

Who says that about black singers who perform Italian operas or black musicians and Bach? Really, it's getting boring.

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

http://fox8.com/2015/09/07/ohio-state-university-celebrates-50-years-of-hang-on-sloopy/

Pope Benedict and Pope Francis

I love the writings of Pope Benedict/Cardinal Ratzinger. He writes about the basic truths of any era, any culture, yet because of being exposed to the horrors of Marxism and National Socialism (Nazi) in his youth, he seems more alert to the dangers of our worship of the culture and current governments than Pope Francis, a sweet, dear man whose words are easily manipulated and quoted by non-believers. Francis is a favorite of internet memes--usually misquoted. It's hard to believe the media would be chasing after the tough and difficult words of Benedict and grabbing for snippets to post on Facebook or Twitter. Ratzinger believed relativism is the new expression of intolerance.

Ratzinger: "Christ is totally different from all the founders of other religions, and he cannot be reduced to a Buddha, a Socrates or a Confucius. He is really the bridge between heaven and earth, the light of truth who has appeared to us.

The gift of knowing Jesus does not mean that there are no important fragments of truth in other religions. In the light of Christ, we can establish a fruitful dialogue with a point of reference in which we can see how all these fragments of truth contribute to greater depth in our faith and to an authentic spiritual community of humanity." (Murcia, Spain, 2002)

Until planning our trip to Spain, I’d never heard of Murcia.  We’ll be in that city (mostly the airport, I think).

It’s Labor Day, and many people are working today

Labor Day. There's a lot of support for an increase in minimum wage, because it makes good politics and sounds generous, but not much economic sense, therefore we know it's from the left. Very few hourly wage earners are at minimum and if they work full time, they are above the poverty line and lose benefits. (Maybe you think that’s good, but it could be a huge drop in the tax free, spendable income.)

Only about 30% of teens today are employed, so compare that to my era (1950-60s) or the 1970s—45-60%. That hurts them down the road. But politicians still get to hire at subsistence wages and call it "internships." Only about 11% of the work force is in a labor union, but in many states (like Ohio) you have to pay dues to a union to teach school even if you aren't a member (unions contribute almost 99% to Democrats).

I've been listening to Dennis Prager interview people about their jobs and why they love them. One guy writes for a motorcycle magazine (34 years) and gets to test the new models. Another sells ads for the back of the grocery tape--makes an unbelievable income. A woman called and said she homeschools and takes care of her husband and loves what she does, especially the research. One man designs one of a kind gift boxes. They were all so excited about their work it's been a fun program for Labor Day.

What was your first job? Mine was a newspaper carrier for the Rockford Morning Star. My sisters actually had the route which was almost the entire town of Forreston, IL, but I got the edges of town which included a least 2 farms down a scary lane with no homes. In my mind's eye I can remember the route. I was in second grade, I think. The worst part--collecting; the best part--getting gifts at Christmas from my customers.

• Tom Blackburn: Columbus Dispatch carrier, it was an afternoon paper back then.
• James Isenhart: While still in HS in Mt. Morris was mowing lawns, then Kable Printing!
• Melissa Nobile: Baby sitting, lifeguard at the lake, dental office receptionist. And then I went to college.
• Kelly Sanders: Babysitting was my first job then came McDonalds.
• Jeanne Poisal: Babysitting then Woolworth’s.
• Mike Balluff: I too carried and delivered Rockford Morning Star in Mt Morris, then stocked shelves at M&M Market and lifeguard at Camp Emmaus. I got paid 69 cents/hr at Messers. That was just enough to keep my '51 Buick in gasoline.
• David Keck: Carrier for The Toledo Blade. Almost identical likes and dislikes. One dread at the end of the route: having a paper left over, or being short one.
• Roland Lane: Carrier for the Columbus Citizen.
• Anna Loska Meenan: Babysitting, then a maid at a Holiday Inn
• Sue Noll: Counting inventory or cleaning out an abandoned, filthy house for a perspective tenant, can't remember which was first
• David Meyers: Subbed on a Columbus Citizen route. Fondest memory was walking on the crust of frozen snow, seldom breaking through it. Also the feeling that I was the only one awake in the world.

Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 16 ounces (about 1 & 1/2 cups) creamy peanut butter (reserve for cooled cake)

For the icing:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 16 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1 _ Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9” x 13” baking pan.
2 _ Whisk together flour, sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
3 _ Place butter in a medium saucepan. Melt over medium heat.
4 _ Stir in cocoa powder. Then, stir in water, buttermilk, and eggs. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils.
5 _ Remove the mixture from the heat and add to flour mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla. (NOT Peanut Butter—save that for icing)
6 _ Transfer batter to prepared pan and spread evenly.

7 _ Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8 _ Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Then, spread the peanut butter over the cake. Allow to cool completely.
9 _ To make the icing, place the sifted confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl. Set aside.
10 _ Combine butter, buttermilk, and cocoa in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to boil.
11 _ Remove from heat and pour over confectioners’ sugar. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
12 _ Spread icing over peanut butter. The cake can be served immediately or can sit at room temperature to allow the icing to set.

Cooking at Home recipe site—really yummy stuff here.

The law is sacred, if it upholds liberals’ values

“As far as I can tell, there are only three unassailable constitutional rights left in the United States: the right not to be "discriminated" against, the right to have an abortion and the right to have a gay marriage. In the eyes of liberals, nothing—not the freedom of association or religion or anything else mentioned in the First Amendment or Second Amendment—will ever supersede these consecrated rights.

The rest? Well, it's malleable, depending on the situation.”

“. . . we have cities across this country that ignore immigration laws they don't like and create sanctuaries from law. We have cities that ignore federal drug laws because they find them oppressive. Yet no one finds himself in jail. When Californians approved Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, a number of officials refused to enforce the law. They were celebrated. I may even agree with the impulse. But not one elected official has been hauled off to jail for any of these stands.”

“And if we're going to be rigid about the rule of law, let's throw all officials who ignore it into cells. We can start with the president and work our way down.” http://reason.com/archives/2015/09/04/remember-the-law-is-only-sacred-when-it

When wolves returned to Yellowstone

Everything changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q#t=136

A great story but others disagree.

https://strangebehaviors.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/maybe-wolves-dont-change-rivers-after-all/

And then in the comments they quibble over the words “elk” and “deer.”

Resettlement of Syrian refugees

I'm about to offend liberals and conservatives and Christians  alike.  I think the U.S. needs to resettle Syrian Christians. Now before you get your panties in a knot thinking I'm being a bigot, take a look at the population of the U.S.--almost 80% check the Christian box and our founders were European Christians regardless of the lies they are teaching your kids in school. It's in all our basic documents. We're fractured among many religions, but most are Christian whether Pentecostal, Baptist, Mormon, Catholic or Orthodox, but on refugee resettlement we tend to work together. We also have Syrian Christians already here.  Despite that, many Christians don’t want any more middle easterners brought into the country.

U.S. Syrian Christians have not returned to the middle east to join ISIS and bomb us. They aren't beheading Egyptians, or Yazidis or other Christians. Yes, they will need to be vetted because ISIS has already told us they will be sending terrorist cells with the refugees.

It is also churches that will be called on to resettle them. Unfortunately, some take government money to do it--which is not a good idea. There's nothing Biblical about that. There's enough of a problem with language and culture--let's not top that with fear of religion. That's how it's been done since my ancestors got here in the 1730s and the Mennonites and Lutherans met them at the boat.

Also, Islam is the second largest religion in the world--let those Islamic countries step up and take in some Muslim refugees. They certainly don't want Christians whom they been kicking out or oppressing for the last 2 decades.

One dead toddler on the beach is terrible, but there have been thousands and thousands of children who have died, thousands of families uprooted, hundreds of villages and churches destroyed, and all we have done is draw a red line.

The murder that Black Lives Matter ignores

Jamyla Bolden was murdered and Black Lives Matter movement did nothing. . . They were busy protesting the death of a criminal who had shot at the police according to Stacy Washington, a St. Louis black conservative radio talk show host.

“During the same week a 93-year-old Tuskegee airman, a war veteran who valiantly served this country, drove through Ferguson and got lost. He pulled over to ask two young men for help with directions in finding his daughters house. They robbed him.
Shaken, the veteran unsuccessfully pursued the robbers in his vehicle. He pulled over again to ask for help again. The two young men he asked for assistance carjacked him. The BLM movement did not protest for him either.”

Stacy E. Washington, conservative talker