New Christmas CDs

Can't beat the price.  $2.99 at Marc's for four. Actually it was the Red Army Chorus that grabbed me.  Copyright is 1999 when they made this, but Russia hasn't been "red" since 1990. When I played it I discovered a lot of female voices--well, I guess they've integrated, too.  You can tell it's phonetic.  Difficult to understand the words--but I know them.  I had one of their records in the 1950s. Very rich, folk, Russian and very male.    Songs 4 Worship is Integrity Music / Time Life, 2001.  The other is all the "old" favorites from the 40-50s like Guy Lombardo, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby. Probably won't be able to use the kid's music, but that's still $1 per disc.

The Pope, the Lutheran and the Eucharist

I have now found a good translation at a Catholic site of what Pope Francis said to a Lutheran woman about taking communion at her husband's Catholic church, although it doesn’t help much. “Talk to the Lord and then go forward” is why we have 35,000 different Christian denominations many with no authority higher than the pastor who organized the church.

 

”I can only respond to your question with a question: what can I do with my husband that the Lord’s Supper might accompany me on my path? It’s a problem that each must answer [for themselves], but a pastor-friend once told me that “We believe that the Lord is present there, he is present” – you believe that the Lord is present. And what's the difference? There are explanations, interpretations, but life is bigger than explanations and interpretations. Always refer back to your baptism – one faith, one baptism, one Lord: this Paul tells us; and then consequences come later.

I would never dare to give permission to do this, because it’s not my own competence. One baptism, one Lord, one faith. Talk to the Lord and then go forward. [Pauses] And I wouldn't dare – I don’t dare say anything more.” http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2015/11/life-is-bigger-than-explanations-to.html

 

I’m still left with the puzzle that what Lutherans call “present” and what Catholics call “present” have not been the same, and for many Protestants and those who came later like non-denominational denominations of the last 50 years, there isn’t even a “present,” just a memorial.

Former Homeland Security employee told to shut down a surveillance program

 He says he likely could have helped prevent the San Bernardino terror attack if the government had not pulled the plug on a surveillance program he was developing three years ago. Philip Haney's story has "holes" says government sources.  Yes, I'm sure.  He had links to Farook's mosque.  Malik would have been identified as she tried to enter the U.S.  Instead, she was "vetted" and found to be OK.

Political correctness run amok.

Malik ignored. 

"The attack by Farook, the U.S.-born son of Pakistani immigrants, and Malik, a Pakistani native he married in Saudi Arabia last year, has heightened security concerns in the United States and become an issue in the U.S. presidential campaign."

Hope for a terrible disease--Dengue Fever

Mexico has approved the world’s first dengue virus vaccine. Sanofi’s Dengvaxia will be available to children over nine and adults 45 and under. . . Sanofi spent two decades and $1.6 billion on the development of Dengvaxia. According to BBC News, about 40,000 people in Mexico will initially receive the shot. “With this decision, Mexico moves ahead of all other countries, including France, to tackle the spread of this virus,” the country’s health ministry in a statement.

The Scientist

The fun Christmas party for PDHC

Last night we attended a Christmas party for the volunteers of the pregnancy center. We save lives--one womb at a time. Saw a few friends I know from church, and some I've met volunteering. I was on a great gift wrapping team (but we could only use one hand) as a game. But what really warmed my heart (more than the delicious food that Abigail Colon's husband made) was the number of young women either volunteering or on staff. Wow. I'm so used to hanging out with retirees and senior citizens and imagining that it's all on our shoulders, it's so nice to know there are young people out there wanting to save babies and mentor women in crisis situations.

A grudge can be a heavy burden

There's a reason why it's called resentment.  You are re-sending the grief back to yourself.

Women in combat

On the Patrick Madrid show (radio talk, Dec. 9) the topic was the recent approval for women in combat. A career female military officer called in and said she disapproved for a reason I'd never thought of: In WWII the USSR lost about 10 million men in combat, but did not draft women, and their population recovered. China has lost females primarily in the womb (abortion, one child policy) and can't recover for many years, if ever. If women of child bearing age are killed in combat there is no way to replace your population. She also mentioned the different physical standards for women in the military, but that has been the case all along. In combat it could be a more serious issue.

The general consensus is that women in combat weakens the military.  There are many, many who call themselves Americans who would like to see this.

Zuckerberg, Facebook, and ISIS

Maybe this is the reason Zuckerberg is offering comfort and peace to Muslims on Facebook?

 In the past few years, the use of Twitter (as opposed to Facebook), on the other hand, has grown. ISIS supporters embraced the platform in the latter part of the last decade, Stalinsky says, when old-school web forums regulated by moderators remained popular among Al Qaeda members. According to research from the Brookings Institute, ISIS supporters used some 46,000 Twitter accounts between September and December 2014, though not all were active at the same time.

Mark Zuckerberg will offer Muslims peace and safety at Facebook

When do women with white hair and conservative views get to comment at the Facebook pages of The Daily Beast or Huffington Post or Vox without harassment, Mr. Zuckerberg? When do we get to have an opinion and not be called "old hag" or told to take a "dirt nap" because we're worthless because everyone knows if women aren't young and sexy they have no value? Where's my peaceful and safe environment free of sexual innuendos from weird ugly men and F words from female bar flies? And what about Arab or Syrian Christians on Facebook? There are millions in the USA and Europe, and a decreasing number in the middle-east. Are they safe from harassment? They've been in the U.S., the land that gave you and your immigrant great grand parents this opportunity, 100 years longer than Muslim Syrians. Where are their peace and safety on Facebook?

 Facebook is a free service to which we can unsubscribe at any time. I could ignore HuffPo and just post cat photos. But some are made more welcome than others, and some are held to higher PC standards. I know people who have complained to FB about obnoxious, hateful photos and comments, and nothing is done.  At other times, really innocuous comments gets someone banned. 

Zuckerberg made a huge fortune on a good idea at the right time using the capitalist system, and now he goes all soft and gooey for socialism and a religion whose radical adherents would kill him for no reason other than he is a Jew.

Zuckerberg reassures Muslims

More have slipped into lower income group under Obama

At the county level we've lost a lot of ground under Obama. "Based on poverty rate estimates for all 3,141 counties for all ages, 26 percent (820 counties) had a statistically significant increase in poverty between 2007 (the year before the most recent recession) and 2014. Only 1 percent of counties had a statistically significant decrease in poverty during that period."

The recession was "over" in June 2009, yet the middle class has lost out and some have slipped downward. Finger wagging (Obama), criticizing the GOP (Hillary) and creating additional expensive government programs (Bernie) won't take the place of sound economic policies.

http://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/data/highlights/files/2014highlights.pdf

The Silent Scream

Parental guidance recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gON-8PP6zgQ

Obama violated federal law with his Bergdahl deal

"A House Armed Services Committee report set to be released Thursday accuses the Obama administration of misleading Congress and violating federal law during a controversial prisoner exchange.

The report compiled by the GOP majority charges that the administration did so when it bypassed Congress in negotiating the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was being held in Afghanistan. They suggested that the White House had put politics and expediency ahead of proper procedure in making the deal." (CNN)

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2015/12/10/house-armed-services-committee-obama-violated-federal-law-with-bergdahl-exchange

Ohio pro-abortion legislators want to take away first amendment rights

A young man named Faisal Mohammad stabbed 4 students on a California campus last month, but the government is calling it a version of "workplace" violence, i.e., that he was mad about something and it has nothing to do with his ideology. No one is banning Muslims from walking around that college or driving through the campus. No California congressman is drafting a bill to obscure first amendment rights.

But in Ohio, based on the crazy guy who attacked people at an abortion clinic in Colorado, 2 female pro-abortion legislators want to further infringe on the rights (speech, religion, assembly) of people peacefully walking near abortion clinics and they want clients, staffers and abortionists of the clinics to be able to sue the demonstrators who are doing nothing wrong using pseudonyms. They essentially are accusing people who have done nothing wrong of plotting murder. Dear was not demonstrating, was part of no pro-life group, and had a history of disturbing behavior with a criminal record, infidelity, multiple marriages, and abuse of women. Apparently, he believed babies were being killed there and said so. For that, these legislators want to take away the rights of Ohioans.

Electroporation

This article in the OSU News is about interesting cell research on cancer cells, but includes some possible good news on Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

https://ece.osu.edu/news/2015/12/cell-cell-curing-cancer-nanoscale

The process of cell reprogramming through electroporation is recognized as an important strategy for curing Parkinson and Alzheimer’s diseases, as well as many cancers. Stem cell reprogramming researchers were even awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012.

Electroporation involves delivering probes to individual cell membranes, in order to apply a focused electrical field. This makes the cells permeable enough to place foreign molecules inside, like genes or drug treatments, without damaging the surrounding tissue.

[If my troll who doesn’t like my medical articles or my political articles or my pro-life views takes issue with this, please take it up with either the researcher or the editor of the article.  Thanks.]

No wonder people are ready for Trump

“A student at an Arizona community college is challenging her school’s so-called “speech zone,” arguing the policy “severely limited” her right to free speech and due process.

Brittany Mirelez, a freshman at Paradise Valley Community College in Maricopa County, Ariz., was kicked out of the designated speech zone in October for failing to obtain permission to use the space.”

http://dailysignal.com/2015/12/08/college-student-takes-a-stand-against-campus-free-speech-policy-sues-school/

Three Word Wednesday—the Obituary

Three Word Wednesday gives writers, poets and those who journal a mid-week jolt of creativity. Each week, three words are selected; you create something with the words. Then come back and post a link to your contribution.

Obituary,  a notice of a death
Placid, not easily upset or excited;  calm and peaceful, with little movement or activity.
Resonant,  deep, clear, and continuing to sound or ring;  filled or resounding with (a sound); having the ability to evoke or suggest enduring images, memories, or emotions;

The obituary
by Norma J. Bruce
December 8, 2015

She died.
Two days later, he died.
The obituary was clear on the dates.
Death notices are often dry and placid,
It took my breath away as I thought back.
With careful wording and verbs about the destination.
Brief paragraph, not resonant with the muffled sounds of the past
Of young love, quarrels and misunderstandings,
When sixty years ago they had hoped for a future that
Was not to be. Ever.  At least on this side.

Farook and Malik

I only had the news on about 2 minutes this morning before I turned to something more spiritual and scriptural, but I did catch more bad news about Farook, the San Bernardino shooter. It could be unsettling for the leftist meme--which continues to be shattered as more investigation is done.

Now, it appears, in addition to the bank account transfer 2 weeks ago, workplace violence can't even be a partial motive, like that quarrel with a Jewish co-worker. Obama and Lynch so desperately wanted that label! They want to blame Islamophobia so the American people can be at fault.

He had planned this 2 years ago, then got spooked. That also means his wife didn't radicalize him (not sure why her radicalizing him was such comfort to some, but it seemed to be—even Donald Trump who is looking for more excuses to get publicity). Now I'm wondering if she was the 15th victim, did she actually have a choice? In those hours after the shooting driving around when the bombs didn't explode, was she pleading with him to give up so they could see their child again? We'll never know.

And I'm still wondering how CAIR knew to call a press conference before the rest of us knew their names. Unless the White House or FBI (which reports to Obama) gave them a heads up.

What if Obama had been president on December 7, 1941?

Talat Strokirk, Pakistani-Swede, former Muslim

Of all the segments I’ve watched on Journey Home (EWTN), this is one of the most interesting given the struggles today between Muslims and Christians.  Talat Strokirk has lived all over the world, but now lives in Sweden and is married to a Swede.  She was born in pre-partition India and her Muslim family became citizens of Pakistan.  Although she speaks very lovingly of her devout Muslim parents, they had a number of serious breaks in their relationship—when she became baptized, and when she decided to marry a foreigner.

But it also shows the importance of Christian missionary schools, as she was educated in several countries by Catholic nuns, although with no pressure to participate in Christian activities or worship.  She said her Muslim father approved of the Catholic schools because, “the nuns dressed modestly and followed a good moral code.” She also said that leaving home (around 1960) to take refuge in a convent (after her baptism) was unusual in that day, but today would be almost impossible. Her parents were embarrassed in their community by a Christian daughter, and her mother said she would have preferred she had come home with a child (from England where she had studied) rather than as a baptized Christian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0iXAXXxQvY

Walnuts—food of the week

“Most U.S. adults have yet to discover the benefits of walnuts. A recent study has determined that only 5.5% of all adults (ages 19-50) consume tree nuts of any kind! This small percentage of people actually do a pretty good job of integrating tree nuts (including walnuts) into their diet, and average about 1.25 ounces of tree nuts per day. But the other 94.5% of us report no consumption of tree nuts whatsoever. In a recent look at the nutritional differences between tree nut eaters and non-eaters, researchers have reported some pretty notable findings: on a daily average, tree nut eaters take in 5 grams more fiber, 260 milligrams more potassium, 73 more milligrams of calcium, 95 more milligrams of magnesium, 3.7 milligrams more vitamin E, and 157 milligrams less sodium! “

For more information from WH Foods