History of money

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6NRC9aofKU

Lecture series at Hillsdale College.

“Money has been used as a medium of exchange since ancient times. It affects not only economics, but also history, politics, and culture. This second CCA of the 2015-2016 academic year, co-sponsored by the Ludwig von Mises Lecture Series, will examine the history of money, as well as money-related controversies.”

Sunday, November 8:

4:00 p.m. EST
“The History of Money: An Overview”
Kenneth R. Calvert
Headmaster, Hillsdale Academy
Associate Professor of History, Hillsdale College

8:00 p.m. EST
“How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy”
Steve Forbes
Chairman, Forbes Media
Author, Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy

Monday, November 9:

4:00 p.m. EST
“Milton Friedman and Monetarism”
Robert Barro
Harvard University

8:00 p.m. EST
“Money in American History”
John Steele Gordon
Author, Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power

Tuesday, November 10:

4:00 p.m. EST
“How to Think About the Federal Reserve”
Peter Schiff
President and CEO, Euro Pacific Capital
Author, The Real Crash

8:00 p.m. EST
“The Problem of Crony Capitalism Today”
William Walton
Founder, Rappahannock Ventures

Dreams, visions and prophecies

Great sermon today by Gemechis Buba, Mission Director of the North American Lutheran Church, at Mill Run, UALC on dreams, visions and prophecies. He reminded us that the culture is pushing the church to the fringes and we need to regain our vision. He reflected that the great churches of Sweden, Norway, Germany, England and Holland sent missionaries to Africa, but neglected their own countries and their children and grandchildren lost the faith established centuries ago. Pastor Buba, who was raised in Ethiopia, noted that a German missionary had baptized him. Now Africa is sending missionaries to Europe to fill their empty pulpits. I crossed the river to hear him and my husband came over after ushering at our Lytham campus. He has a powerful message; will probably be at ualc.org sermon site by Tuesday.

If we solved poverty, too many people would be out of work

It's not easy being poor, and especially homeless. You have to support so many good middle class jobs. I was looking through the 2014-15 annual report of the Ohio Housing Trust Fund yesterday. It began as a group of concerned citizens in 1990 cobbling together resources to help the homeless and now has a budget of about $60 million. It doles out grants to various non-profits who assist with low income housing and programs for the homeless. I looked at one of the larger grants, Integrated Services of Appalachian Ohio (that's the geographic area that Obama promised to destroy in 2008--coal country). This ISAO has a budget of about $7 million. CEO makes $134,522 (2013), and about 60% of that $7 million goes to salaries. Poverty is big business.

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/11/affordable-housing-in-ohio-and-your.html

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-ocdca-not-obsessive-compulsive.html

Testimony on climate change

Dr. Don Easterbrook, geologist, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Western Washington University. Easterbrook was educated at the University of Washington, where he received the BSc in 1958, the MSc in 1959, and the PhD (Geology) in 1962.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LkMweOVOOI

Republicans could elect another Clinton

For those of you who think the Fox Channel is spawn of the devil because it isn't a mouth piece of the Democrat Party, you're missing a great analysis of the new book by the former President George H.W. Bush. I do wonder why it was released during Jeb's campaign--the left will snip and slice and pull out juicy parts to hurt Jeb and destroy George W. But for Republicans who will see it, it's a good reminder that YOU elected Bill Clinton by chasing after Perot. I didn't, because I was a Democrat then and of course voted for Clinton--never thought anything through in those days except do what the party says. Let's not make the same mistake and elect Hillary by pouting that our candidate didn't make the cut in a field that's the best in our history as a country.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/politics/bush-biography-nyt/

ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/11/05/george-h-w-bush-slams-iron-ass-cheney-arrogant-rumsfeld-in-new-biography-also-faults-bush-41/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/us/politics/elder-bush-says-his-son-was-served-badly-by-aides.html?_r=0

Episode 3: Hormones and Hunger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo3TRbkIrow

Why it isn’t just eat less move more.

“Metabolic endocrinology appears to be only slightly more complicated than a nuclear reactor and brain surgery combined. No single hormone controls body composition, appetite, and hunger — and your individual hormonal profile may be relatively unique.

What’s also notable is that dieters who lost more weight on the diet had more significant changes in their appetite. They were probably hungrier while losing that weight.”

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/leptin-ghrelin-weight-loss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOCPyheVesM  Robert Lustig on sugar at Google

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmC4Rm5cpOI  Robert Lustig at Ted Talk on sugar

Jenean Hampton, Tea Party Republican

Republicans also made history in another way. Bevin’s lieutenant governor running-mate, Jenean Hampton, is now the first African American elected to statewide office ever in the state’s history.

Born in Detroit, the 57-year-old Hampton and her three sisters were raised by a single mom who lacked a high school education and couldn’t afford a television or a car. But Hampton was determined to better herself. She graduated with a degree in industrial engineering and worked for five years in the automobile industry to pay off her college loans. She then joined the Air Force, retiring as a Captain. She earned an MBA from the University of Rochester, moved to Kentucky and became a plant manager in a corrugated packaging plant. Then she lost her job in 2012. She used her free time to start a career in politics and becoming active in the Tea Party.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/426555/kentuckys-new-gop-lt-gov-black-tea-party-activist-john-fund

Too much sex at OSU

The Women's Place (Ohio State University) produces a comprehensive report on the status of women at Ohio State. The purpose of the report is to synthesize and disseminate comparative data to evaluate progress towards increasing diversity and promoting equality for women at Ohio State. In doing so the report identifies successful areas and areas where more work is needed."

I read it; mostly about implicit bias and why there aren't more women in top positions. So I wrote them: "I've read the 2015 report. I think I see the problem. Your organization focuses too much on sex (babies, assault, relationships) and not enough on skills, leadership, intelligence and accomplishments."

http://womensplace.osu.edu/assets/files/Status_Report_2014-15.pdf

Thomas Sowell on slavery

Why is there such a euro-centric view of slavery? Why more concern for slaves long dead than those living today? Because there are ideological gains to be had.

                   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7FKReHYKY

http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2015/07/07/a-legacy-of-cliches-n2021930/page/full

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417899/it-isnt-legacy-slavery-caused-social-breakdown-ghetto-communities-thomas-sowell

Big Oops

As part of Clinton’s criminal justice reforms, she supports “banning the box,” meaning the box former criminals have to check on a job application acknowledging they committed a misdemeanor or felony. But as she was articulating that stance to her audience [Charleston NAACP] Friday, she made a verbal slip-up.

“Earlier today, I announced that as president, I will take steps to ban the box, so former presidents won’t have to declare their criminal history at the very start of the hiring process,” she said. “That way, they’ll have a chance to be seen as more than just someone who’s done time.”

She's now a much bigger criminal than any president, she just isn't a former president.

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Cupcakes

• 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup Half and half (Or you can try evaporated milk0I used half/half)
• ⅔ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon or 1 teaspoon cinnamon (depending on your preference-can also add 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice but we do not like that)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• whipped cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 12 cup muffin tin.
3. Mix the pumpkin and sugar in mixer with whisk.
4. Add eggs, vanilla and half & half.
5. Add all dry ingredients.
6. Fill each muffin cup with ⅓ cup of the mixture.
7. Bake for twenty minutes.
8. Cool 20 mins then pop in fridge until cold.
9. Remove and top with whipped cream

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups heavy cream

Instructions

1. In a bowl whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
2. In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth.
3. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

http://hugsandcookiesxoxo.com/2015/08/pumpkin-pie-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-whipped-cream.html

The homeless woman—Three Word Wednesday

This week (no. 452) the words are:

Ragged, adjective: (of cloth or clothes) old and torn,

Threatening, adjective: having a hostile or deliberately frightening quality or manner,

Unsightly, adjective; unpleasant to look at; ugly.

The homeless woman in July

She’s not threatening
as she daily rides her bike
through the neighborhood
of suburban  McMansions.
Dressed in heavy pilled sweaters ,
a ragged hand knit hat blue
from the church missionary barrel,
and unsightly galoshes with treads.
Perhaps she knows that
Cold winds will blow soon.

Build a better salad

“Want to maximize the health benefits of your salads? Start with romaine lettuce for a salad guaranteed to be packed with nutrients. The vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber found in romaine lettuce are especially good for the prevention or alleviation of many common health complaints. . . an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, and molybdenum. Romaine lettuce also is . . . a very good source of dietary fiber, four minerals (manganese, potassium, copper, and iron), and three vitamins (biotin, vitamin B1, and vitamin C). “

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=61

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=42

Ben Carson has no political experience

“You are absolutely right — I have no political experience. The current Members of Congress have a combined 8,700 years of political experience. Are we sure political experience is what we need. Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience. What they had was a deep belief that freedom is a gift from God. They had a determination to rise up against a tyrannical King. They were willing to risk all they had, even their lives, to be free. Today we find ourselves with an entire class of politicians. No one in Philadelphia, during that summer our nation was born, dreamed that service was a career with a pension. America was the land of the Citizen Statesmen. They were merchants, lawyers, farmers — and yes, even doctors. They were willing to stand for freedom. . .

“My experience is very different than what we have come to expect. I grew up poor. I know what it is like to be homeless and hungry. I know the pain of poverty. I also know that education and a mother’s love can be the path out of dire poverty. I know what it is like to see water fountains you are not allowed to drink out of because of your skin color. I also know that once you peel back the skin, the brain is the same no matter what your skin color or continent you live on. I know that victimhood is a trap. I know that it is our Christian responsibility to offer those less fortunate a hand up. I know my faith is strong and my ego is small. . .

”I didn’t go to embassy cocktail parties or beg lobbyists for money. I spent night after night in a quiet, sterile room trying to save the life of a small child. That was my life’s service. This is my life’s experience. What I have is a lifetime of caring, integrity and honesty. I have experienced the American Dream. No where in the world, other than America, could a man whose ancestors were slaves, rise to become a leading brain surgeon and one day seek the Office of President.” Ben Carson Facebook page, Nov. 5, 2015

Democrats, party of socialists

Data mining our medical records

There wasn't a shred of research or evidence that electronic medical records included in the Obamacare pre-package would improve health or reduce costs, but the benefits to IT companies and researchers had them salivating. I just noticed this on a recent story. Did we give anyone the right to use your records for research? Probably signed away our rights to privacy without reading the small print.

"Researchers from Houston Methodist and Stanford University used computer algorithms to scour some 16 million records from nearly 3 million patients to find which of them had taken medications for gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and how many of them had heart attacks."

South Side Roots Café and Market, Columbus, Ohio

Is your lunch bunch looking for a terrific place to meet? Try the South Side Roots Cafe & Market on Reeb, south of Parsons in Columbus, in an old restored elementary school. It's intended for low income who have limited resources, they pay what they can, and get delicious, chef inspired meals. It is part of the Mid-Ohio Food Bank and has a grocery store with locally grown foods. Eat well, do good.

From Columbus Business First, "The cafe will operate on a pay-what-you-can model serving lunch Monday through Friday, and brunch on Saturday. Customers with the resources can pay-it-foward and donate meals to a hungry neighbor. Additionally, the cafe will host a free community meal every Tuesday evening and provide snacks to Reeb’s on-site child-care center and the Boys & Girls Club." Hours are M-F 11-3, and Saturday brunch 9-2.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/08/04/mid-ohio-foodbank-opening-southside-market-and.html

https://www.facebook.com/#!/South-Side-Roots-Cafe-Market-108575456144715/?pnref=story

Lie upon lie—Obamacare

If you know any Obama supporters who don't yet see the intention was not better or cheaper or more fair health insurance, but single payer so the government could control our lives, smack them. There might still be a brain cell or two working you could activate. http://townhall.com/columnists/halscherz/2015/11/04/the-human-toll-of-the-bureaucratic-state-in-healthcare-n2075710

One of the untold stories regarding the negative effects of Obamacare on our healthcare system, is the irreparable harm being done to our rural healthcare network. iVantage Health Analytics reported that since 2010, there have been 56 rural hospitals that have closed their doors- the latest, Mercy Hospital in Independence, Kansas. There are an additional 283 rural hospitals across America on the brink of closure. 35% of rural hospitals are operating at a financial loss, but this was not always the case. Obamacare is a big part of the problem.

The plan is that it will get so bad and so expensive, the voters will beg for single payer.  Marx was definitely wrong.  You don’t need impoverished workers to revolt; only dumb, non-thinking well-off voters.

Obama is turning the country into Republicans

With the election of Matt Bevin in Kentucky, 64% of governors are now Republican and Kentucky has its first female, Black statewide official, a Tea Party Republican. This will be Obama's legacy--he has lost the Democrat party hundreds of state legislatures, plus many seats in the house and senate of the U.S. Congress. He has overseen the slowest economic recovery in our history by trying to micromanage it from Washington. He has let Russia and Iran lead him by the nose. Democrat candidates’ issues are sex, drugs and guns. Republicans agenda items are jobs, security, borders, Obamacare, debt/deficit, and military. Democrats are running an elderly socialist and a woman who should be in jail. Republicans are offering an amazingly diverse group, including two Hispanics, a black, a woman, a few governors and no socialists.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/04/meet-jenean-hampton-the-first-black-person-to-be-elected-to-statewide-office-in-kentucky/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/us/republican-wins-governors-race-in-kentucky.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/us/republican-wins-governors-race-in-kentucky.html

A little child will lead them

Occasionally I read something very profound on FaceBook--and the one posting doesn't even realize it. An atheist FB "friend" (we've never met) was born and raised in the former USSR, and is now an American author and professor. He was walking his dog when he encountered a small child, about 5, sweet and innocent, who asked about the dog, and then about God. "Does God ever get sick?" he asked the professor. A very wise and gentle man was he, and could honestly say, "No," reasoning that if God doesn't exist (he said to himself to justify his answer) he couldn't get sick. I read that exchange and thought to myself that here was a 5 year old who had never seen an ultrasound of a baby, or the aurora borealis, or a fossil, or a spider's delicate web, or the billions of galaxies, and yet he knew more about God and cared for his well-being in his child-like way than my friend, the all wise and jaded professor did. Yes, it was an inspiring post.