Write a note this Advent

North America, PBS

I was watching a PBS program on. . . possibly fossils, but it was all over the map on topics (I googled it an I think it is called Making North America).  Anyway, they were examining marine fossils in Kansas, so the narrator who had been deep sea diving looking at bacteria in an earlier segment was describing with nice graphics how oceans and seas came and went, rose and receded over millions of years across North America.  In the next program he'll probably be telling us that humans, especially American capitalists with global investments, are to blame for climate change.

Governor Jindal writes to President Obama

My letter to President Obama: In light of Paris terrorist attacks, time to pause process of refugees coming to the US.

Dear President Obama,

In the wake of another round of appalling terrorist attacks, I write to express great sadness at the events in Paris, as well as my grave concern about the unreported diffusion of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Last week, the city of New Orleans began receiving its first wave of Syrian refugees. As with former immigration crises and federal relocation policy, Louisiana has been kept in the dark about those seeking refuge in the state. It is irresponsible and severely disconcerting to place individuals, who may have ties to ISIS, in a state without the state’s knowledge or involvement.

As Governor of Louisiana, I demand information about the Syrian refugees being placed in Louisiana in hopes that the night of horror in Paris is not duplicated here. In the wake of these atrocities, I also ask for details on the below:

1) What level of background screening was conducted prior to entry in the United States?
2) In light of the fact that some of those responsible for last night’s attacks held Syrian passports, what additional protections and screenings will be put in place?
3) Will all Syrian refugees seeking relocation in the United States now be cleared by the Terrorist Screening Center?
4) What degree of monitoring will be sustained after initial placement in Louisiana?

As Americans, we embolden freedom and opportunity to the rest of the world, but by opening up our borders and refusing to collaborate or share information with states, you are threatening that reality.

Mr. President, in light of these attacks on Paris and reports that one of the attackers was a refugee from Syria, it would be prudent to pause the process of refugees coming to the United States. Authorities need to investigate what happened in Europe before this problem comes to the United States.

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal

Cc: The Honorable Sylvia Burwell, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services
Cc: The Honorable Jeh Johnson, Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
Cc: The Honorable James Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigations

Trump Tabby

Probably the last time he’ll say that

College snowflakes demand their safe space

I wonder if the college kids demanding safe spaces would defend a little girl's right to have a toilet room safe from little boys who think they are little girls?

Black journalist claims first amendment not such a good idea.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/how-campus-activists-are-weaponizing-the-safe-space/415080/

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426911/university-missouri-student-protests-safe-spaces

Because Perry has male anatomy, many students simply see her as a boy in a wig changing in the girls' locker room -- and that makes them uncomfortable. They whispered about her in hallways, complained to faculty and told their parents, who brought it up at the school board meeting on August 27.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/living/missouri-transgender-teen-feat/

Where is the United States in prophecy

I'm not a dispensationalist, but I'm familiar with their writings. About every 10-20 years someone finds a new phrase in the Bible that pin points exactly when Jesus comes back. I've always wondered why the United States never figures in those prophecies. Now I know.

We've got a very smart, pathological liar criminal on the left, and a very dumb, bombastic real estate mogul on the right running for president. The fringes are on fire for them and the middle is running in circles looking for the extinguishers. Which ever one wins, we all lose. There will be no U.S.A. when Jesus comes back.

BTW, both the Quran and the Hadith refer to Jesus' 2nd coming. But like Christians, Muslims don't agree on future events.

The ISIS Threat in Paris and here

When GW Bush left office, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were essentially over; only security and mop up of dangerous elements plus training of local government forces remained. But "ending the war" was Obama's campaign promise in 2008 and it had been taken from him. Never mind. We lost more military in his first term than 2 of Bush. He continued with that theme, ignored the fragility of the wars' end, and foolishly let ISIL (IS) rise to the power it is today. The whole world will pay for his hungry pride. The terrorists of yesterday's French attack put us on notice by saying they thirst for America's blood.

Watching a British news source last night I notice they referred to this as "the situation," and "the event." Now that's the worst PC-isms I've ever heard. Perhaps we need to return to plain English, Mr. President.

The daughter of Geraldo Rivera of Fox News was at the Paris soccer stadium where one of the attacks took place. There was a very moving first hand account from her, after her rescue by family friends when all the public and private transportation shut down. Rivera has represented the liberal view on the Fox show,The Five, since pundit Bickel went to rehab. But last night he sounded like Donald Trump. That's what fear looks and sounds like, and that is the purpose of terrorism.

Urban farming

Currently, estimates are that 15 percent of all food in the United States is produced in a metropolitan area, said Mike Hogan, educator with Ohio State University Extension in Franklin County, Ohio. That includes food grown in home and community gardens, urban farms, and even urban aquaculture facilities.

Hogan will be speaking Monday, November 16, at Ohio State at 109 Physical Activity and Education Services – PAES

PAES was completed in 2006 and replaced Larkins Hall which was built in 1931.  According to the contractor’s website (Gilbane) it was estimated at $152 million, and has 650,000 sq. ft. The complex which I believe includes RPAC  includes a seven pool aquatic center, basketball, volleyball, badminton, racquetball and squash courts, more than 27,500 SF fitness and conditioning space, student wellness center, synthetic turf gymnasium, as well as a climbing wall and outdoor adventure center.

If you’ve ever wondered why college costs are so much higher than when you attended, even accounting for inflation, PAES type buildings are part of the reason, along with expanding faculty and administration staff.

How to get out of college debt free

This young man’s father doesn’t make $6 million a year like the Mizzou hunger striker.

Steroid Shots No Long-Term Help in Knee OA

“In the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, there were no significant differences between patients who received injections of triamcinolone hexacetonide every 12 weeks and those given placebo in change in pain on the Western Ontario and McMaster University Arthritis Index (WOMAC), with differences of -2.2 in the steroid group and -2.8 in the placebo group (P=0.3), reported Timothy E. McAlindon, MD, of Tufts University in Boston.”

Read here.

"I think we can conclude that intra-articular corticosteroids used at the dose of 40 mg for 2 years has no major effect on structure in the joint -- either deleterious or beneficial -- and that over the long-term we don't see an overall effect on patient-reported outcomes or physical function," he said [Timothy McAlindon].

Add "slave" to the word list

Tiger Woods' former caddy (obviously bad blood there) used the word "slave" in describing his working conditions in his book. That's pretty silly on the surface, considering his pay, but to claim that whites can't use the word? Do these rabble rousers know there is more slavery today than in the 18th century? Instead of making up trouble, do something about the new term, "trafficking in persons." Probably would help to go back to the old term.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/tiger-woods-ex-caddie-explains-why-he-used-the-word-slave-to-describe-his-work

Three Word Wednesday, venom, wiggle, distracted

Venom, noun: a poisonous substance;  extreme malice and bitterness shown in someone's attitudes, speech, or actions.

Wiggle, verb: move with small rapid movements, (wiggle out of) avoid (something)

Distracted, adjective: unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied.

See web site for clues and how to participate.

A noun, verb and adjective.  Hmm.  This almost screams for a poem about today’s college campuses of the United States, doesn’t it? For the internationals who contribute to this website, it refers to current college protests in the U.S. led by wealthy students, a massacre in Kenya in April of college students, and looks back the the 1960s when protests were common.  The term “snowflake” is American slang for young, coddled adults who melt under criticism.

Fifty years later.

“Don’t trust anyone over 30!” was the cry of the sixties.
Can’t be too critical of the venom spewing from
From Mizzou, from Yale, from Ithaca,  
Solidarity walk outs, sit ins,  protests and marches.
Except, they want the opposite of free speech.
No investigation of rumors, just
Fire the president! Remove the faculty!
Especially that creep that gave me a D.
(Don’t be distracted by the cry from Kenya, 
Kill the Christians!
Almost 150 killed on campus for that crime.
No wiggle room for these young revolutionaries.)
Our snowflakes at home, deceived who
Shout, raise their fists, then go off 
to have a beer with their trust fund money,
Ignoring the blood spilled on the other side
Of the university world.

Bill O’Reilly on the current witch hunt on campuses

I don’t care much for Bill O’Reilly—he constantly interrupts his guests and experts.  However, the witch hunt piece is spot on.  A black female professor  at Vanderbilt is currently a victim of such a witch hunt—her crime?  She’s a conservative Christian, and has suspicious thoughts. Accusing a fellow student or professor of a racial slur is an easy way to get rid of someone you don’t like. Social media has exacerbated the problem.  No evidence is needed; just the charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV0JtMwU1yU

University of Missouri protests spread, while delicate snowflakes melt under scrutiny

So the protests are spreading. Remember, "Don't trust anyone over 30." Jack Weinburg was my age, he came up with it, and this was a popular slogan in the 1960s. I can't believe the ignorance of the students being interviewed. Now it's gone from snowflake hurt feelings to demanding no tuition.

Neil Cavuto on Fox interviewed the most naïve student organizer yesterday.  She’s read the posters from the leftists, but apparently has never had to fill out an income tax form.  He was very polite and kind and let her hang herself with the rope of ignorance and youth.

"The Million Student March is a movement for an equitable and fair system of education," Mullen told Cavuto. "The three core demands of the National Day Of Action are free public college, cancellation of student debt, and a fifteen dollar minimum wage for people who work on the campus."

Kelley Mullen and her organization seem pretty good at making demands. Explaining how it'll all be paid for? Not so much.

"So how's that going to be paid?" Cavuto casually asked.

"Ummm...great question...I mean...so...," Mullen stammered.

Cavuto proceeded to demolish Mullen's claims that "the 1%" would be footing the bill for her organization's demands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmji36q8E4o

One student I listened to being interviewed said 50% of the U.S. budget went for military (not); another said 50% of Americans were poverty level (not). They seem to be stuck on 50 percent.  Maybe it’s Common Core Math?

Defense is 19%; Medicare Medicaid 23%; Social Security 20% of the budget. About 14% of Americans are at or below poverty level although it has increased some under this administration, with $22,000 per poor person going to anti-poverty programs each year. Student loans are high and climbing because of the government tweaking which simply allows universities and colleges to raise tuition. Some students seem to think education is a right, not a privilege. We've raised a generation of numbskulls.

I haven't checked the details, but apparently the student body president of Mizzou, black and gay and homecoming king/queen, is from a wealthy Chicago family, interned with Rahm Emanuel as a community organizer, has met with President Obama, and lied about the KKK threat which has caused some of the uproar. Well, liberal college faculty and administrations are getting what they asked for the last 20-30 years. Now the movement is spreading and other college presidents are being asked to step down from colleges that have no diversity of thought.

Really funny parody by Matt Walsh. “Someone insulted me,” fire the CEO.

http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/dear-walmart-someone-insulted-me-in-one-of-your-stores-your-ceo-must-now-resign/

Perhaps the poor melting snowflakes on the Mizzou campus could view footage of the carnage on another campus, this one in Nairobi earlier this year, of 147 students, mostly Christians who couldn't recite verses from the Koran to their Islamic killers. Mizzou protesters are apparently confused about terrorism and threats to their personal space.

 http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/03/africa/kenya-garissa-university-attack-witnesses/index.html

I saw this comment about the gay black student at Mizzou who spread the KKK rumors  (later admitted it wasn’t true) which helped get the president "fired," then had to apologize.

"Clearly, a Duke LaCrosse playing KKK member from a fraternity at UVA grabbed some U Delaware light hanging nooses and drew the poopsticka. Then dated Lena Dunham, hard. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Heads must keep rolling."

Come let us eat

I heard this lovely call and response hymn on Sing for Joy today. But it was a choral arrangement (Schola Cantorum) which I can’t find on YouTube and I didn’t care for the drums and organ samples, so just a small item about the Liberian composer. I is a very popular communion hymn.

KWILLIA, Billema. b. ca. 1925. Kwillia is a literacy teacher and evangelist from Liberia in West Africa. He is best known for the hymn ‘Come, Let Us Eat’ (‘A va de laa mioo’), which has been included in several hymnals and ecumenical collections. Kwillia composed the hymn in the 1960s and it employs a characteristic call-response pattern. Margaret D. Miller (b. 1927) transcribed the hymn from a recording in a church service in 1969. This hymn, in the original Loma language and in Miller’s versification, appeared first in Laudamus, a hymnal for the international gathering of the Lutheran World Federation in Evian, France in 1970. (Dictionary of hymnology)

My Luther bookmark

I was pretty sure I’d found this in Luther’s writings and then designed the bookmark, but couldn’t figure out which, so I googled, “if you were able and did not” and sure enough found it was LW 51,9.  It was on a page for sex and gender diversity at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Inbreeding among Muslims for 1400 years?

I am not at all familiar with Pickerington Post blog. So I haven’t confirmed this “research.”

Massive inbreeding among Muslims has been going on since their prophet allowed first-cousin marriages more than 50 generations (1,400 years) ago. For many Muslims, therefore, intermarriage is regarded as being part of their religion. . .

The BBC’s research also discovered that while British Pakistanis accounted for just 3.4% of all births in Britain, they accounted for 30% of all British children with recessive disorders and a higher rate of infant mortality.

It is estimated that one third of all handicapped people in Copenhagen have a foreign background and 64% of school children in Denmark with Arabic parents are illiterate after 10 years in the Danish school system.

The research appears to be only at right wing website and all cite the same Danish psychologist, Nicholai Sennels .

http://joemiller.us/2015/09/muslim-inbreeding-has-corrupted-islams-psyche-and-the-results-are-alarming/

http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-problem-of-inbreeding-in-islam/

The dissenters: http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/robert-spencer

Dear Mr. Reno, editor of First Things

I don't know about the progressive because I'm a conservative, former liberal, humanist and Democrat. But I do know how disappointed I was in the December issue, "Crisis of our Time." If I could have found your e-mail, I would have said,

"What are you thinking? Capitalism is more dangerous than powers of government and you're leaning to Francis' view?"

Really? Name any global capitalist cabal that has murdered 100 million of its customers as the USSR and China did in the 20th century! What about the kings, monarchs, tsars, caliphates, Imans, and tribal leaders of past eras? Who do you think was at the foundation of 18th c slavery if not the petty tribal and Islamic leaders of that era who sold souls to slavers? Do you think capitalists have killed more of their citizens than they did? Only mosquitoes have killed more people than governments. /And statist governments are the worst.

Indirectly I suppose you could say the abortion industry is capitalism, but in the United States it is the plank of the Democrat Party, and it has destroyed millions of lives and caused American families to decay at the roots.

I've eagerly read your columns with each issue; now I could cry. I'm a Lutheran so technically have no skin in your game, but I do know the Roman Catholic church is the greatest defender of social and political rights in the world, the only entity strong enough to stand up to powerful government interests, especially Marxists. Once you weaken that with this drivel that Francis is promoting, the 40,000 Protestant groups and denominations might as well fold their tents and let the culture die.

Coloring books for adults

Have you seen those coloring books for adults at the book stores? Yesterday I bought some colored pencils and I picked up two Sunday school children's bulletins with b & w drawings at church. It's all good.

Jesus probably didn't wear purple on earth--too expensive, but he is King of King and Lord of Lords, so I took some artistic license for heaven.

http://time.com/4106154/crayola-coloring-book-adults-color-escapes/

http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-adults-are-buying-coloring-books-for-themselves