Are you prepared for the hurricane?

If it hits land, it’s climate change; if it goes out into the Atlantic it’s nothing but Mother Nature.

Church of the Brethren won’t forget their girls

These may not be the girls about which we heard so much in April 2014, and which were quickly forgotten except by the Church of the Brethren (EYN), the largest Christian group in Nigeria. That denomination has been devastated by Boko Haram. Unfortunately most of these girls appear to be pregnant.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/news/boko-haram-girls-freed/

•More than 500 women and children kidnapped, many of whom are EYN members
•3,038 EYN members killed
•Around three million people affected
•96,000 EYN members are displaced—needing shelter, food and water
•37 of 50 EYN districts are impacted
•18 districts are closed in areas now controlled by Boko Haram
•280 EYN pastors and evangelists are displaced

From the COB website: As the escaped Chibok girls return to school and society, one of them reported, “Education gives me the wings I need to fly.”

Legal doesn’t always mean moral or right

Yesudas, the famous singer you’ve probably not heard of

Isn’t the internet amazing?  Finding things you didn’t know you wanted to read. . .

I was browsing the archives of the Gospel Messenger for another story (1947) when I came across a film announcement, “Yesudas, the Outcaste,”  about a boy from India who becomes a Christian. It was making the rounds of the various Church of the Brethren congregations and meetings, I suppose to encourage interest in missions.  So I decided to look it up, and didn’t find it, but found out about Yesudas, a Christian Indian singer, probably more famous in his own country than Taylor Swift or Frank Sinatra in ours. He’s also a Bollywood film star.   His name means servant (das) of Jesus (Yesu), but I doubt if the boy in the film and the man who became a famous film star and singer are one in the same.  He’s about my age and still performing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtZHDQCy3EM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E08UYGssJEg

With his wife of 40+ years.

From his website: “He performs classical concerts in the courtyards of mosques, temples and churches, and strives to bring people of all religions together through music. Many of his songs have carried sublime messages of love, goodwill and brotherhood.”

He believes women should dress modestly, and that has brought him criticism, but his wife believes in traditional Biblical values, that men should be the head of the home.

The Kerala-born singer, who has been conferred with the honours like Padma Sri and Padma Vibhushan, said when women wear jeans, others are forced to look beyond that (jeans). Yesudas was inaugurating cleanliness drive under Swachh Bharat Campaign at Swathi Tirunal Music College in Thiruvananthapuram.

“What should be covered must be covered. Our culture involves the beauty which should be covered. Women should not trouble others by wearing jeans. When they put on jeans, men are tempted to look beyond that (jeans),” he said. “Women’s beauty lies in their modesty. They should not try to become like men. They should not force others to do unnecessary things by wearing jeans, which would give them magnetism,” Yesudas added. The Indian Express

Now I’ve “liked” his Facebook page with about 196,000 other “friends.”

Get the popcorn ready—winter’s coming

There's a good reason you don't see me review many films; I rarely go to a movie. However, an 8 hour flight across the ocean with a lot of movies on the back of the seat in front of mine gave me the opportunity to see recent releases. Right before touch down in Philadelphia I finished "Clouds of Sils Maria" (2014) with Juliette Binoche which went to DVD this July. Good, absorbing movie about relationships for your next movie night at home. Another one I recommend which I watched in flight is "Age of Adaline" (2015) with Blake Lively, about a woman who remains 29 years old for 80 years. Cast includes Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn.

While I was watching a rather elderly Ellen Burstyn (an outstanding actress), my husband next to me was watching her 40 years younger in “Alice doesn’t live here anymore.” (Later adapted for a TV series Alice.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UzSekc0LoQ Trailer for Adaline.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/20/way-up-high  Review from New Yorker for Sils Maria, with the reviewer narcissistically giving us much more about what he knows than is necessary, but still fairly accurate.

Which Spanish language?

And we think we've got language problems!  Spanish?  Lots of people living in Spain don't want to use it! They want their own regional language. Although my knowledge of Spanish is limited, I could certainly hear the differences between what is spoken in Spain and here in north America. Everyone sounded like they were lisping. You could see their tongues moving with c, s or z, and many cities had signage in two languages.  We flew into the airport at Murcia, the capital of the region of Murcia, which is sort of pronounced, MORTH ee ah there instead of mer SEE ah as we had learned it. When checking our bag in Madrid, the clerk wasn’t sure where we were going!  It’s between Valencia and Andalucía.

Wikipedia says, "Due to massive emigration from Andalusia to the Spanish colonies in the Americas and elsewhere, most American Spanish dialects share some fundamental characteristics with Western Andalusian Spanish, such as the use of ustedes instead of vosotros for the second person plural, and seseo. Many varieties of Spanish, such as Canarian Spanish, Caribbean Spanish and other Latin American Spanish dialects, including their standard dialects, are considered by most to be based on Andalusian Spanish."

In Catalonia, north of Valencia, home of Barcelona, there are four languages with official status in Catalonia. But Castilian Spanish and Catalan are the major ones.  That region was having a referendum on secession and language was just one issue. (Catalan was not used during the Franco dictatorship.) Mainly they were unhappy with 13% of the wealth in the country, they paid 20% of the taxes.  That probably sounds very reasonable to the 10% of Americans who pay 68% of our federal income taxes.

Hola. We're home from Spain

We're home from Spain after a wonderful 2 week trip for our 55th anniversary. Home. Where the big stories when I turned on the TV were a new Oreo flavor (Cinnabun) and a stolen dog instead of the visits of Xi Jinping, Pope Francis, Putin, millions if refugees pouring into Europe, and the richest province in Spain (Catalonia) trying to secede because they pay too many taxes and don't want to speak Spanish. Ah. Finally. Important stuff.

Your post cards should arrive in a week or two, but it's probably not worth it (if you're planning a trip). It costs one euro (about $1.12) to send a post card to U.S. (less in Europe), and you don't even get a pretty stamp for your trouble, only a label. Generally, things in Spain are a very good buy for people with Euros, just not at the post office.

In Spain we were hosted by our Finnish friends, Martti and Riitta Tulamo, who are friends from 1979-81, their years in Columbus as students, and are now a retired horse surgeon and architect, enjoying the good life, and the most fabulous tour guides ever. An added bonus was seeing about 600 photos of Virve's wedding in May at a castle in Estonia plus the places we visited in 2006 in Finland when we visited there. They provided the apartment and all the driving to special tourist spots, plus critical information we needed. 

I'm a news junkie, so in Spain every accommodation we experienced had different cable channels we enjoyed. In our Madrid hotel (Sidorme) we watched American series reruns of Monk, Closer and Castle along with spaghetti westerns in Spanish with Spanish subtitles; in Torreviaja our apartment cable selection was different than our hosts’ selection, and was primarily international news channels in English--China, BBC, Russia, Arabic, Algeria, France, Japan, Korea--great coverage of business and international events, wonderful documentaries with revisionist history (from our view point), and zero criticism of their own countries' government and policies. Hmm. We could learn from this. Oh, and the women journalists were lovely but well covered--very modest by our standards.

During our two wonderful weeks in sunny Spain, we encountered rain only one day on tour. Our umbrella and rain gear were back in the hotel (of course), so we were soaked while I was attempting to use a cane on slick stones. So one of my souvenirs is a new pink umbrella purchased in the village San Lorenzo de El Escorial at the monastery El Escorial, NW of Madrid.

I didn't gain a pound in Spain despite the fabulous meals which included very few vegetables (unless chocolate counts). After virtually no cheese or bread in 6 months, I had them at least once or twice a day. Perhaps walking with a cane on cobble stone streets takes a lot of calories? Our cat, who lived for 2 weeks with our daughter and her tiny Chihuahua, seems to have gained some. Little beggar.

I had no Facebook or e-mail, and really, didn't miss it. We made conversation the old fashioned way—face to face.  We met many wonderful people waiting in line for various tourist spots like cathedrals, mountain castles, Roman fortresses, Moorish architectural wonders, and great restaurants. Belgium, Holland, England, Finland, Montreal, Colombia, Poland, Philippines, Japan and even Bellefontaine and Marion, Ohio. Tourism is enormous and critical to the economy--and snatching a few minutes in garbled English about best places to visit was fun.

We almost couldn't find bad food, and the supermarkets were fabulous with very reasonable prices and great variety. Always look for "Menu del Dia" a mid-day special usually with 2 or 3 courses including bread, wine and dessert. Super highways and secondary roads put ours to shame.

Except for waiters and hotel staff and the ubiquitous China stores (Chinese immigrants thrive in Spain), we met few Spaniards, but Spain seems the most monochromatic, ethnically similar place I've ever visited. Spain, except in the southern most regions of Andalucía and Valencia near Morocco, must be about 98% white. Really handsome people, with gorgeous women and great flair for fashion. Only after 50 do the women pack on the pounds. A few gypsies, and some Africans, but TV and employment opportunities seem entirely Caucasian. Each province and state and city has its own culture, language, fiestas, and regional food, but in skin tone, not much difference.

The worst problem we saw was graffiti--it's everywhere from high rises, to highway overpasses, to ancient ruins, to construction sites. Very ugly and I never got used to it.

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/