Many Democrats believe churches are the problem, but media are OK!

"If you still wonder why liberal Democrats can’t get elected except in deep blue urban areas (hint: it’s not a Russian conspiracy) and why they seem so out of touch with everyday working Americans, a new Pew Research Center survey may hold a clue. It found that 36% of Democrats believe that churches have a negative impact on American society. Among liberal Democrats, that jumps to 44%. Only 40% of liberals think that churches have a positive impact on society. By contrast, just 14% of Republicans have a negative view of churches. And what do a majority of liberals think does have a positive impact on American society? Fifty-one percent said the national news media do. Enough said." Mike Huckabee

What exactly is collusion?

 The definition is "secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose: "acting in collusion with the enemy."  John Brennan, Obama's head of CIA, is a good example.

Working with British and Estonian spies, "John Brennan’s CIA operated like a branch office of the Hillary campaign, leaking out mentions of this bogus investigation to the press in the hopes of inflicting maximum political damage on Trump. An official in the intelligence community tells TAS that Brennan’s retinue of political radicals didn’t even bother to hide their activism, decorating offices with “Hillary for president cups” and other campaign paraphernalia.

A supporter of the American Communist Party at the height of the Cold War, Brennan brought into the CIA a raft of subversives and gave them plum positions from which to gather and leak political espionage on Trump. He bastardized standards so that these left-wing activists could burrow in and take career positions. Under the patina of that phony professionalism, they could then present their politicized judgments as “non-partisan.” "  From The Spectator, April 17, using The Guardian, April 13.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/john-brennan-hostility-between-putin-clintons-drove-russias-actions/article/2623908

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/05/did_brennan_collude_with_foreign_spies_to_help_hillary.html

A gift for newlyweds or engaged couples

I haven't listened to this series--after 57 years of marriage and my "kids" at near the mid-century mark, not sure I'd change anything, however, listening to Father Riccardo is a treat, even if he were reading cookie recipes. Lots of his talks are on YouTube.

 

Description

Part 1 – Marriage:  Fr. John discuss the two unique creation stories in Genesis. We are made in the image and likeness of God. What implications does that have?
Part 2 – Ephesians 5:  Fr. John breaks down Ephesians 5. This chapter contains one of the most beautiful passages ever written about marriage, but it is almost immediately considered to be out of touch and out of date because of how it starts: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.”
Part 3 – Fatherhood: It is the great mission and task of earthly fathers to be a tangible and visible expression of the heavenly Father’s love for His sons and daughters. Fr. John discusses the important role of fatherhood.
Part 4 – The Dignity of Woman: Mary DelPup, the Director of Evangelization and Catechesis at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, concludes the “What’s the Point?” series with a talk on the Apostolic Letter, Mulieris Dignitatem or “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women.”

Standing in the gap

On July 10, Lena Dunham announced her intent to sell a significant part of her wardrobe and donate some of the funds to abortion giant Planned Parenthood. See? There should be no worry about defunding PP because rich celebs and loyal Democrats will step up and fill the gap so the killing can continue.

Proof of Trump Putin collusion

https://www.facebook.com/theblaze/videos/1526392697398065/  or

http://www.theblaze.com/video/matt-walsh-i-have-incontrovertible-evidence-trump-colluded-with-russia/

Matt Walsh has uncovered all the links, followed the dots and connected it all.

The Left used to have ideas

Democrats used to admire accomplishments of the West and Western Civilization.  Why is it so offensive to admire our country?  Symphonies are "white nationalism?" Liberals seem to think so.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvtyBODFk04

Ed Gavagan’s Moth story

He was attacked by a gang and left for dead.  He lost his business, apartment and became homeless. He lives in constant fear and when hired as a day laborer weeps on the job and is fired time and again. http://themothbook.org/stories/whatever-doesnt-kill-me

“I walk out of there [Victim Assistance office], and I go to my favorite bartender, who’s this cute Lebanese-Canadian girl. She’s a poet. And she lets me move in and stay on her couch. She’s rocking this Simone de Beauvoir look, and she’s smart and funny.

But the biggest thing is she listened, which was amazing. Because most people—-and they  were all very well-meaning—-had one of three responses.

The first response was, when I tried to talk about my feelings, and my fear, and this turmoil in my head, they would say, “Well, everything happens for a reason.” And that made me want to punch them in the face, and ask them if they knew what the reason for that was.

The second thing that people tended to say was “You’ve just got to get over it, man. You’re alive. You’re lucky. You’ve just got to put this in the past, and move on.” And that made me want to stab them six times and come back and talk to them in six months and go, “So how’s it working out, you got any advice for me now? Because I could really use some help from somebody who knows what I’m going through.”

And the third thing that people would say, and again, very well-meaning, but it just was absolutely no help, was that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

The Moth Hour Story Telling

Last summer the Women’s Club at Lakeside enjoyed a book review, The Moth; 50 true stories which was a NYT best seller.  It’s a collection of stories remembered by the storyteller for the enjoyment of the listeners gathered on a porch on a summer’s evening.  Now it is a website, podcast, weekly radio show, live events and archive on the web.  Friends and neighbors are gathering to tell stories.  The first Lakeside Moth Porch event got rained out so it wasn’t on a porch, but it had a standing room only crowd at the Green Gables Women’s Club cottage.

Is Alt-Left dead?

 Alt-left is dead says Lionel Nation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHYT5f8mGm0

I found Lionel while searching for an alternative to cable news, including Fox which has been taken over by the sons, and after getting used to his 5 synonyms for every noun, I enjoy most of his posts.
He was never a Trump fan, but always has an interesting take on how Trump is trolling and destroying all the memes and lies of the Left. Some of the people he chides, like Nikki Haley, I like and don't get his beef.

Well, the 24/7 coverage of Russia/Trump collusion has destroyed the credibility of CNN, Washington Post, and New York Times. So I suppose that's a somethingburger.

I was reading Ivanka Trump's comments on empowering women entrepreneurs and involving the World Bank, IMF, OECD, etc. Forty years ago when I worked in the Agriculture Library at OSU on a grant from USAID with the Ag Econ faculty these methods were already well described using the same institutions. I wonder if anyone ever read the research on how supplying women with small credit opportunity empowered her, her family, other women and the whole village?

Older people need more protein, and 4 other things

Your nutrition needs change as you get older.  Here are five things recommended at the Silver Sneakers website to increase.

1. Protein--to maintain muscle mass and proper functioning
2.  Calcium--1,000 mg to 1,200 mg per day as you pass age 50
3. Vitamin D-- essential to both bone and muscle health
4. Fiber--need increases as we age
5. Water--your sense of thirst decreases with age, so compensate.

https://www.silversneakers.com/blog/senior-nutrition/

Sunday in the park--a polka band

The Chardon Polka Band, an accordion, 2 saxophones, a banjo and drummer, performed in the gazebo in Lakeside central park tonight. They played a wide variety of songs, including "Who stole the Kishka?" The woman next to me, probably in her 80s, leaned over and said, "What is a kishka?" "No idea," I said. So she pulled out her smart phone and asked it. "It's a sausage," she said. Here's video proof that Chardon has a polka band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il3ZhMt4NgY

 

A sop to Big Ag--ethanol standards and subsidies

I've read all the excuses from the experts, and I don't care what they say, to make ethanol from food stuffs when people are hungry around the world, just sounds immoral. God gave us fossil fuels for a reason. We don't need to recreate them.

"According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data for 2015, approximately 13.5 million bushels of corn were produced in 2015, with 39% being used for livestock feed, 30% for ethanol, 12.5% for various exports, 8% for distiller's dried grain, about 5-6% for high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners, and 3% for starches and cereals." (World's healthiest foods newsletter).

http://e360.yale.edu/features/the_case_against_ethanol_bad_for_environment

"Two prices determine its [ethanol] profitability: the price of corn and the price of oil. The higher the price of corn, the more expensive it is to divert from feeding animals or making high-fructose corn syrup and instead distill it as alcohol fuel for cars and trucks. Second, the higher the price of oil, the more economically ethanol can be blended with gasoline. When corn is cheap and oil prices are high, ethanol margins are fat. But when corn prices rise and oil prices fall, ethanol margins are flat."

 It's bad for fuel economy AND the environment.  It only profits the growers who support the legislators who keep this alive.

Cyber Attacks on U.S Companies in 2016

Not sure what the Trump administration can do about cyber security given the "deep state" he inherited which is loyal to Obama, because this report for 2016 and the 2014 and 2015 and ones before them show the U.S.--government and businesses--really let us down. Voter records, Treasury, Homeland security, DNC, social network sites, banks, etc. Wonder why DNC wouldn't let FBI investigate. . . http://thf-reports.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/IB4636.pdf

 "This Issue Brief [above] is a continuation of a series of papers on cyber attacks against U.S. companies since 20141 and 2015.2 While the means of cyber attacks vary, the pattern of targets has been relatively consistent. Large databases, as well as point-of-sale systems, continue to be targeted for financial gain. Hackers with possible ties to nation-states continue to target infrastructure as well as systems for political insight."

"According to the FBI, about 4000 ransomware attacks happen every day.  In the United States alone, victims lost $209 million to ransomware in the first quarter of 2016.  Even worse is the threat to critical infrastructure, as seen by the malware infections at electrical distribution companies in Ukraine that caused outages to 225,000 customers in late 2015.  Recent reports on the Russian hacks into the Democratic National Committee and subsequent release of emails in a coercive campaign to apparently influence the U.S. Presidential Election bring further national attention to the inadequacy of cyber deterrence.  The U.S. government seems incapable of creating an adequate strategy to alter the behavior of the wide variety of malicious actors seeking to inflict harm or damage through cyberspace."

http://www.heritage.org/cybersecurity/event/strategic-cyber-deterrence-the-active-cyber-defense-option

Make America Great Again song

How would a you analyze "Make American Great Again" song unveiled on July 4?

 

Vanilla . . . simplicity and clarity. . . not striding boldly to a new future. . . too familiar. . . egregiously unsurprising. Missed opportunity. . .

 

 http://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/analysis-trump-make-america-great-again-song/

Can we say. . . condescending?

Can heterodoxy survive on campus?

The Leftists have redefined so many words and concepts (even pronouns) as racist and sexist and transphobic, I'm not sure Heterodoxy can make it in academe. Librarians led the way, but now leftist ideas control the academy.

 "Heterodox Academy was founded in September 2015 to call attention to this trend and the problems it is causing for scholarship, particularly in the social sciences and related fields (such as law and public policy). The word heterodox means “not conforming with accepted or orthodox standards of beliefs.” We chose that word to contrast with “orthodoxy,” which refers to conforming with accepted norms and beliefs. Orthodoxy has religious connotations, but it can be applied to any view that becomes dogma or dogmatic, such as “orthodox Marxism,” “social constructionist orthodoxy,” or “free market orthodoxy.”" https://heterodoxacademy.org/problems/

Wesley Snipes is an author

Today I received an offer to review Wesley Snipes' spiritual "thriller" novel. I said no (I've never read a thriller), but I think the concept and author are interesting. The pitch. "TALON OF GOD (Harper Voyager; on-sale 7/25/2017) is a high-voltage cinematic saga with strong spiritual themes. The novel centers on Lauren Jefferson, a beautiful young ER doctor and daughter of a Baptist minister, dragged into an apocalyptic battle between Heaven and Hell—and at her right hand is Talon Hunter, spirit warrior. Co-authored by writer Ray Norman, the book stands out as the Harper Voyager imprint’s biggest book of the summer."

President Trump in Europe

"Mr. Trump is taking a clear stand against the kind of gauzy globalism and vague multiculturalism represented by the worldview of, say, Barack Obama and most contemporary Western intellectuals, who are willing, even eager, to concede the argument to critics of the West’s traditions. This is the speech Mr. Trump should have given to introduce himself to the world at his Inauguration. In place of that speech’s resentments, his Warsaw talk offered a better form of nationalism. It is a nationalism rooted in values and beliefs—the rule of law, freedom of expression, religious faith and freedom from oppressive government—that let Europe and then America rise to prominence. This, Mr. Trump is saying, is worth whatever it takes to preserve and protect." (Wall St. Journal)

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/07/07/trumps_powerful_speech_in_poland_134405.html

"Trump offered a concise, powerful statement of western achievements and why they are worth defending. “We write symphonies,” he said. “We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers. . . . We cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression. We empower women as pillars of our society and of our success. We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives. And we debate everything.”

Full speech in Poland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=Adpgw93_DfE

Survey on cyber security, 2017

This is an interesting survey. Since the Obama Administration left us so vulnerable, could the "new White House" be worse? Apparently so, according to the Black Hats who recently met. But 15% in 2016 thought there would be a major security breach, and 13% in 2017. How safe is any organization when the head of the DNC has a password of "password," and the data gets leaked? Let's hope President Trump creates a safer environment than Obama did.

https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-17/2017-Black-Hat-Attendee-Survey.pdf

The most feared cyber attacker is someone with inside knowledge of their own organization. The average consumer needs to fear phishing and other social engineering attacks, not the government. The weakest link in security is end users who violate security policy and are too easily fooled by social engineering attacks. For some reason (not explained) the lack of diversity among security IT professionals is a reason for a shortage. Sounds like an obligatory response. Blame society if women prefer studying dance or law.

What's behind denial of biology?

There have been attacks on God's Word from the days in which it was passed along through tradition and story telling, to the compilation of letters by apostles sent to believers (the Bible), through false leaders denying the Trinity, discounting the body and blood of Jesus, on to inventing new theories for salvation, and scrambling to deify the culture in every century and especially in the seminaries. But the latest and most hostile attack is the hoax of transgenderism, that our unique design and sexuality and how God formed us male and female for the preservation and furtherance of the human race is just a human construct to be dismantled and revised as needed. It is just one more way to control people.

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/sexuality/transgenderism/understanding-transgenderism

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/july-august/understanding-transgender-gender-dysphoria.html

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-christianity-alone-offers-transgender-persons

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/10/how-should-christians-respond-to-the-transgender-phenomenon

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/state-agencys-new-rules-accept-transgenderism-or-face-ban-from-working-with

My issue is not with the less than one percent  who are confused about their gender.  My objection is the forcing by government regulations of their confusion on the rest of us with special pronoun rules, non-profits declaring we are "less than" and bigoted because we believe God's plan, and parents and doctors who sexually abuse minor children with reassignment surgery and hormones.

Friday Family photo-me at the lake

My favorite t-shirt--Chocolate God's gift to women

Friday morning is Farmer's Market in Lakeside, so I walked down to Walnut and bought a rhubarb pie from the pie lady and half a bag of decaf at a vendor I'd never seen before,  Fresh2UCoffee.com. I walked back home and brewed a small pot in my Mr. Coffee. My, that's tasty. (If you can say coffee tastes good--it should be it tastes less awful.) So I decided to go back and get another one. Fresh roasted, organic, fair trade, and locally owned. But the lady ahead of me got the last half size bag, so I walked back to the cottage and got more money.