John Podesta, Peter Kadzik, Hillary Clinton and Herb Sandler

John Podesta is Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.

• He’s best friends with Peter J. Kadzik, a senior official at the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI.
• The FBI is investigating Mrs. Clinton on two fronts—her emails (now expanded to the 650,000 on Weiner’s laptop), and the Clinton Foundation pay to play scandal.
• Kadzik led the cover-up of the Obama Administration’s targeting of conservative and Tea Party nonprofits in the last presidential election cycle.
• Podesta is paid $7,000 per month to be an advisor to the Sandler Foundation.
• Herb Sandler, the founder, is a major donor to the Clinton campaign and radical groups like ACORN.
• Sandler and his savings-and-loan empire was involved in the 2008 housing collapse.
• Podesta helped his friend Sandler with the fall out from the burst bubble he helped create.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/john-podesta-donor-foundation-230571

Chicago Cubs win in 10th inning--no more goat curse

 Well-worn legend dictated that the Cubs would never win another World Series thanks to the Curse of the Billy Goat.

Yes, I stayed awake to watch.  Had to turn off my antenna TV during the rain delay because it automatically goes off after 3.5 hours.  Then I turned it back on in about 15 minutes to see what was happening. A really stunning game, I don't even care much for sports.  I was rooting for the Cubs, whereas most of Ohio was for the Indians.  Both team played a magnificent game.

My grandmother was blind and was a huge Cubs fan, always listened carefully to their games on the radio. She was only 13 in 1908 when they last won the World Series, and probably was completely unaware of them having lived most of her life up to that time in Tennessee. They weren't on the radio until 1935, and the two oldest sons were already married and away from home. So I'm guessing that's about the time she became a fan. We celebrated All Saints Day this month, and I know Grandma was cheering them on.

Trump pro-life statements

1. Trump slams Hillary Clinton for position on late-term and partial-birth abortions
2. Trump Interviews with EWTN on Pro-life Conversion
3. Donald Trump Calls for De-funding Planned Parenthood: “I am committed to de-funding it.”
4. Trump announces 'pro-life coalition', supports making Hyde Amendment permanent
5. Donald Trump Comes Out In Support Of 20 Week Abortion Ban
6. Trump promises to nominate pro-life Justices “like Scalia”
7. Trump Chooses Proven Pro-life Leader Mike Pence for VP
8. Donald Trump meets with pro-life leaders, including ORTL President
9. Donald Trump to Catholic Leaders: I Am Pro-Life and I Will Protect Religious Liberty
10. Donald Trump: “ObamaCare is a Total Disaster and It Has to Be Repealed”

Today is November 1 and it's 80 degrees

We'll be eating on the deck this evening. Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and chocolate pie.  I was looking through some October 2009 blogs and found a photo of our almost completed sidewalk improvements that apparently our wealthy suburb got from the ARRA, Obama's stimulus to get the economy going again.  Of course, the recession was over in June 2009, and has been the slowest recovery ever, other than the Great Depression, which FDR managed to drag out for almost a decade through government interference in the economy.  Since my husband's surgery, we've been doing a lot of walking.  I don't like to do the hill shown in this photo, so I walk south to the church parking lot and circle around, and he continues to the north to the next corner.

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/thanks-america.html

Jeffrey Varasano writes: "If Hillary loses (the progressive left) will cry foul and every media hack who clutched their pearls at how Trump was a threat to democracy because he wouldn't roll over during the 3rd debate will join the chorus of "rigged" and "selected, not elected."

They'll ignore that Trump beat the media, the GOP brass, the RINO punditry, AND the democrats.
They will say Comey rigged the election (and therefore) Trump is illegitimate and resist every policy.
...

Every bureaucrat cut will be Trump starving a puppy; every law enforced will be a Nazi police state; every foreign policy negotiation starter will be the threat of nuclear holocaust...
The left is playing for real and they never quit."

Actually, I think if Trump wins, the office of president will be greatly weakened, because neither party supports him. It will finally turn the presidency back to the level of power (not a king) intended by the Founders and return strength to the Congress which long ago abdicated power to the executive and judicial branches.  I think that's a good thing, don't you?

If I were writing true crime, this would never be accepted at the editor/agent level.

    
     
“The Case of the Missing Ribosome and Other Tales of Protein Translation,”  by Dr. Jonathan Yewdell is a talk being given at Ohio State next Monday, the day before the rest of us go to the polls.  Change a few words and it could sound mysteriously political-- “The Case of the Missing e-mails and Other Tales of Political Translation.”  A wildly strange last minute October surprise.  What will Democrats now try to throw out about Trump to see if it sticks?  More sex charges?  More tax charges? Can it be more salacious than missing e-mails stored on the computer of a pervert? Huma Abedin is lawyering up.  Will she be offered a deal while still under the Stronger Together bus?   We’ve got an  Attorney General (Loretta Lynch) our top cop who has to investigate all the little guys whose reputation is completely compromised by a meeting on the tarmac with the candidate’s husband and taking the 5th on the $1.7 billion ransom payment to Iran. Is the FBI director, James Comey, who reports to Lynch going rogue with the truth? And a high up FBI associate (McCabe) in the mix whose wife accepted $650,000 from the DNC to run her campaign for Senate? All this on the tail of the news about the increase of deductibles and premiums of health insurance, and the Wikileaks Podesta e-mails about Bill Clinton Inc. showing his clearly illegal and crass behavior in the Clinton Foundation. 

Mrs. Clinton's sideline business--her Foundation

The problem with the missing Clinton e-mails is that as more has come out about her accepting money for her Foundation for favors, or implied access (from the Wikileaks e-mails), this may be the primary reason for the personal server, even if it wasn't the motivation for the investigation of the server. She couldn't run her sideline business on a government server! And it may be the reason Huma was sending e-mails to her home laptop for "printing." If she tried to print it on a government printer, someone might see it (wireless stores the information).  And that laptop may be where those missing e-mails are stored. And that will take a lot of time to sort through and not anger or blow the cover of politicians of countries that are our allies who were buying favors from the Secretary of State. No proof, of course.

 Why would Mrs. Clinton with her vast experience as a lawyer and Secretary of State even suggest FBI Comey should release more information on the e-mails before they are carefully examined?  "Get it all out there so the voters can judge for themselves" is not something you do with evidence in an FBI or pedophile case.

 I heard a report that if you voted early, in some states that can be reversed. I've got some friends and relatives you might want to check on that.
 
Poll numbers are showing a tightening. Washington Post must be having a meltdown—it has tried so hard to deep six Trump. But it’s too soon to be about the Comey FBI investigation of the Weiner/Abedin laptop. I think it’s because of the Obamacare increases, which have been significant in some states. The President lied—said it was about 25%, but it’s much higher. Actually, he lied from the beginning about this “health care.” Even the news about “Bill Clinton, Inc.” probably hasn’t affected the polls. Each new scandal keeps bumping the other off the page, and Americans are getting Clinton scandal fatigue.

Loretta Lynch pleads the fifth

 
 
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/attorney-general-lynch-pleads-fifth-secret-iran-ransom-payments/

Would you hire someone under investigation by the FBI

1) to be treasurer of your company
2) to be president of the college with access to alumni records for fund raising
3) to take care of your cats while you went to Europe for 2 weeks...
4) to be the insurance carrier for your employees
5) to be your pastor
6) to run your non-profit day care center
7) to manage your condo association with multiple sub-contractors
8) to be a private in the Army
9) to be chief of police of your community
10) to take care of your mother who has dementia?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/politics/fbi-reviewing-new-emails-in-clinton-probe-director-tells-senate-judiciary-committee/index.html

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/10/28/comey-letter-n2238090

 http://ijr.com/wildfire/2016/10/723927-barack-obamas-reaction-to-fbi-reopening-hillarys-email-case-is-nothing-short-of-stunning/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/us/politics/fbi-hillary-clinton-email.html?_r=0

 

Jack Chick has died. Perhaps you've seen his "comics."

Anti-Catholic comic book writer/artist Jack Chick passed away on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.

As far as I know, I’m the only Catholic apologist ever to meet him.

 http://jimmyakin.com/2016/10/meet-jack-chick.html

The canoe race--apocryphal story from the internet

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people paddling and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people paddling. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were paddling.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the paddling team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people paddling the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the paddlers. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices, and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off one paddler, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and cancelled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.

The next year, try as he might, the lone designated paddler was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles), so he was laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.

Here's something else to think about: GM has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while GM racks up 9 billion in losses.GM folks are still scratching their heads, and collecting bonuses...

IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY

Marriage and wealth

Americans working in managerial or professional occupations boast an average net worth of $1.06 million and that's much more than roughly $269,000 net worth for people working in technical, sales, or services jobs. (Motley Fool, Jan. 2016) But also, that's household wealth--and managerial and professional people are more likely to be married (that's 2 incomes) than lower income people, to have graduated from college, and to save and invest. Marriage benefits for black couples are remarkable, but played down in government social studies (that said, black women benefit less than black men).

Marriage and education also provide health benefits, not only does education give them a boost, but even having children who go to college adds to their life span (Pew Research, July 2014). Professionals are less likely to be obese or smokers--maybe their kids nag them. Marriage provides other benefits like inheritance from 2 families even if it's a small amount like insurance or real estate. We have no control over our ethnicity, but Asian Americans are much better at checking all the boxes. 84% of Asian American children live in 2 parent homes.

Democrat blogger and loyalist had her figured out in March 2015

Brent Budowsky is a strong supporter of Mrs. Clinton, and blogs at various web sites, The Hill, the LA Progressive, and The Huffington Post. You can't say he didn't realize the danger of what she and her family were doing in March 2015.

“It was not uplifting to learn in recent hours that problems with foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation continue, Hillary Clinton was still making paid speeches for hire this week, and Tony Rodham is hustling gold mining deals in Haiti. ...From the minute the email story broke I have been out there publicly and unequivocally supporting Hillary Clinton in multiple ways in multiple media unlike many Democrats and unlike most in the media. My mama taught me long ago that when I am seriously angry I should count to ten and choose my words carefully. In that spirit here is my toned down advice which I seriously doubt the Clintons are hearing from those close to them, and if they are hearing it, they are not understanding it. If there is one thing that could well bring down a Hillary Clinton candidacy it is this cycle of money issues about which I am now feeling red alerts, loud bells, warning signals, and red flags and I am now seriously pissed off that there is a real chance that her candidacy and the Democratic Party could be destroyed by these self-created dangers that continue to proliferate the closer she gets to presumably announcing her candidacy. If she is not hearing this from others, please feel free to forward this to her, I will play the bad guy here because I do not want her money and because she needs to hear this from her friends and she will sure as hell be attacked for this by her enemies, and it will be megaphoned throughout the media, and foreign donations and paid speeches and hustling gold mining deals by her brother are entirely legitimate issues that are self-created, and must self-corrected before it is too late….and I do not believe the Clintons fully understand the magnitude and immediacy of the danger in the current political and media climate…..Brent”

Sharyl Attkisson, October 28, 2016, commenting on Wikileaks

Spinach & Artichoke Dip

I have a recipe for this somewhere, so I'll just drop this here while I look for it. I hate to see this at a party because I know I'll over indulge.

Ingredients:
1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed, drained and coarsely chopped
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, grated
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
cayenne or hot sauce to taste (optional)

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients, place it in a baking dish and bake in a preheated 350F oven until the sides are bubbling and the cheese cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top, about 20-30 minutes. Serve with crackers or tortilla chips, and enjoy!

 http://pmnightlynews.com/index.php/2016/05/05/spinach-artichoke-dip/

I'm not voting for the lesser of two evils.

Delicious broths and drinks

My set of Revere Ware is about 54 years old--I know it wasn't a wedding gift, so I'm guessing the age. But it wasn't until about 10 years ago I actually used the stainless steel steamer insert which fits 2 of the sauce pans. Oh my--the joys I missed all those years. Lately I've been making various "broth" drinks. Sometimes I use just one chicken thigh (bone and skin included) and have delicious chicken broth; sometimes I use up some tired old vegetables like limp green beans or carrots, or a frozen vegetable past its prime. I used up half a cuke and tossed in some onions, and it was marvelous chilled. But lately I've been trying it with fruit. Yesterday I threw in a small handful of red grapes, and had a delicious drink, but decided to taste the grapes before tossing them, and they were fabulous. Apples and oranges don't work well, but cranberries, blueberries and strawberries make a great drink as an alternative to coffee or tea. 

Also, if you need a "fast" after having pizza and chocolate pie for dinner, this is a good solution for the next day, like today.

Anyone else but Bill Clinton would be investigated by the IRS

 From the Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-cold-clinton-reality-1477608696

Longtime Clinton aide Doug Band wrote a memo in 2011 to justify himself to lawyers at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett who were reviewing his role and conducting a governance review of the Clinton Foundation . . .
"The Band memo reveals exactly what critics of the Clintons have long said: They make little distinction between the private and public aspects of their lives, between the pursuit of personal enrichment, the operation of a nonprofit, and participation in U.S. politics.

Mr. Band writes that he and his colleague Justin Cooper “have, for the past ten years, served as the primary contact and point of management for President Clinton’s activities—which span from political activity... (e.g., campaigning on behalf of candidates for elected office), to business activity (e.g., providing advisory services to business entities with which he has a consulting arrangement), to Foundation activity.”

This excerpt and all the potential conflicts it describes, plus Chelsea’s warning about business “hustling” at foundation events, would seem more than ample cause to trigger an IRS audit of the foundation. For that matter, why aren’t the IRS and prosecutors already on the case? Any normal foundation has to keep records to show it is separating its nonprofit activity from any for-profit business."

Caught in the Revolution--advance copy

I received an exciting advance copy to review this week, Helen Rappaport, "Caught in the Revolution; Petrograd, Russia, 1917--a World on the Edge." (St. Marin's Press, due February 2017). It's written from research using foreigners' diaries and letters who were eye witnesses caught in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Review copies don't have the photos ;-(  but the list of eye witnesses is certainly interesting. The list includes Julia Dent Grant, granddaughter of president Grant, the black valet of the American ambassador, as well as many journalists and correspondents. One really piqued my interest, Emmeline Pankhurst, and I'll have to do a bit more research on her.

 

We visited this city in 2006--traveling there by train from Helsinki, Finland. St. Petersburg was created in 1703 by Peter the Great who wanted a seaport, then the name changed to Petrograd in 1914 (burg is German and grad is Russian for city), then Leningrad in 1924 for Vladimir Lenin, and then after the Communist regime collapsed, the people voted to change it back to St. Petersburg.

Our voter fraud is institutionalized

Election Integrity should be a national issue says True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht who after wrapping up an interview on Fox, kept the cameras rolling for an impromptu DIY interview that focuses on solutions to the very real problems that are eroding our election process . (I thought the background in the studio was interesting.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrXwwfKrCY4&feature=youtu.be
 
Our election registration and fraud is institutionalized. Enrollment is based on self-attestation and the assumption people are honest when they fill out those forms.  There is no check for citizenship or anything else. Although states are responsible for registering voters, they are sued by the federal government and many leftist organizations if they try to check on the legality of the information. That is very expensive, but allowing non-citizens or non-residents of your state or city, is even more expensive.  Suppression exists from top to bottom for political advantage, and Democrats are so much better at this than Republicans as recent undercover tapes showed how it is done. However, if you're ignoring it because you vote Democrat, next time it could be the other party.

Could you vote in Mexico or Germany or Britain (on Brexit, for instance)? Of course not. Those countries are light years ahead of the U.S. in stopping illegals from voting. Our lax rules create distrust and low voter turn out.

 http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/09/17/true-the-votes-catherine-engelbrecht-voter-id-debate-alinsky-type-scheme-agitate/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxcMKtsm5BU

91% of Trump coverage is negative

Our first amendment addresses the problem of government control of the media, but it doesn't seem to be working.  Now that we know how the President was involved in her e-mail scandals, it's important to cover for him, and the only person who can do that is the next president.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/study-91-percent-of-trump-coverage-on-broadcast-news-was-negative-230297

"A whopping 91 percent of news coverage about Donald Trump on the three broadcast nightly newscasts over the past 12 weeks has been 'hostile', a new study finds.

The study, conducted by the conservative Media Research Center, found that not only has Trump received significantly more broadcast network news coverage than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, but nearly all of that coverage (91%) has been hostile, according to the study.

In addition, the networks spent far more airtime focusing on the personal controversies involving Trump, such as his treatment of women, than controversies surrounding Clinton, such as her email practices or the Clinton Foundation.

For the study, MRC analyzed all 588 evening news stories that either discussed or mentioned the presidential campaign on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from July 29 through October 20 (including weekends). Of the total newscasts, the networks devoted 29 percent of their time to the campaign."