Are the media happy now? Of course not.

We knew this would happen. First President Trump condemned all racism, bigotry and hatred. Remember, Antifa was attacking the protesters. Now he’s spoken out more clearly, naming names. But the media are on the attack. After my morning walk, I entered the living room to hear ABC this morning and they are covering Charlottesville and the president’s horrible wait of 48 hours. They are saying he’s retweeted comments from racists and then denied they denied it after planting the seed. Then they spend 2 minutes on North Korea and it’s back to Trump and Charlottesville. They say there were two sides in Charlottesville, but they only give one. I don’t think they spent that much time on Ferguson, Baltimore and NYC combined.

President Trump has been condemning David Duke and the KKK for two decades. How often is enough for the media? It will never be enough because it's not an actual criticism, it's part of the attack plan, like a yapping, nipping dog with sharp teeth circling and running.

White supremacists have built their membership the same way the anarchists/leftists/Islamists have--social media and constant publicity of the broadcast and cable news. (The media also gave Trump billions in free publicity during the primaries.) They are fringe of the fringe. But the leftists, from moderate Democrat, to Bernie Babies, to wild eyed Antifa, control the culture, and that's BIG. Remember, even in late 2012 Obama and Clinton were claiming to believe in traditional marriage and separate locker rooms for men and women. Today that is called white nationalism.

Update: I know there are people who sincerely believe President Trump is the worst thing that has ever happened, but after I listened on Tuesday (WJR Detroit) to a woman organizer of the protests against the President, I saw clearly you are being seduced, used and manipulated to help destroy not just Trump---he's a small fish in their big pond--not just the November election--but the nation. I'm not sure she/they have any plans beyond the ash heap; their task is to just bring it all down.

This wasn't terrorism, but she's still dead

He drove his car into the crowd, killing one woman and injuring 20 others. "But despite his mounting aggression and mental health issues that began in childhood, friends and the authorities said, he never sought or received treatment, instead burrowing deeper into his paranoia, and smoking marijuana and drinking." No, not Charlottesville, but New York City. Richard Rojas. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/nyregion/times-square-crash-driver-richard-rojas.html

The president is a uniter

Riots are developing in several cities, people clad in black, carrying weapons. Not because of the death of a protester in Charlotte, although that sad incident will obviously attract the naïve. We saw the protests building during the Obama years, in fact, I never saw it worse in my lifetime than the Obama reign, although the focus was fuzzy. When Bush was gone and the war protests ended (although the war didn't), then it was a generalized hate for capitalism, and demands to... absolve students from pricey college debt. Somehow, bigger government and more taxes were to solve what government had created. Then the deaths of some black men killed while committing crimes gave rise to unhappiness that a black president hadn't changed their lives, so we had more slogans and riots. Now they've got a clear target, the President. He's a uniting force for left and right all on the socialist/statist scale.

Doubt--cancelled CBS series

We were in Columbus briefly for an artist event, so while unwinding at home I clicked on the TV by habit, and began to watch a CBS show called “Doubt.” Yes, a lawyer show. How original. About 15 minutes into it I realized that although the screen promo said, “New” this had a story line that goes back a bit. So I got on the computer and read that it was cancelled after two winter shows in 2017, but there were a number in the can, and what we were watching on August 12 were the last two episodes. Cliff hanger of course, and now we’ll never know . Did the pediatrician really kill his girl friend 24 years ago and his blood didn’t show it because he’d had a bone marrow transplant for leukemia years after the murder?

I recognized Katherine Heigl the lead who was obviously pregnant and all angles tried to hide it, Elliot Gould (former husband of Barbra Streisand who used to be a good actor but now seems way over the hill and not given anything important to say) and Judith Light (One life to live, Who’s the boss, and who looked 10 years older than her real age of 68). But the big “breakthrough” of this thankfully short series was a transwoman (Laverne Cox) in a a leading role in a love affair with a cis male (a person assigned male biology at birth). I think it means two gay guys who just don’t want to admit who they really are. We were treated to lots of smooching by these two, as well as two women expecting a baby and one has been busted for drugs and will miss her wife's ultrasound just to desensitize and assure us that all this is normal.

I don’t think it was pulled because of any concern about the transwoman (didn’t fool me--he still has a man’s voice and way too much make-up), or the white and Asian women expecting a baby--that ship has sailed, or because the hot shot lawyer falls in love with her client who may or may not be guilty of murder. It apparently just didn’t have the numbers after the first 2 episodes. Although the summer showings were stronger than the winter, that was probably because there wasn’t much else to do on a Saturday night in August in Columbus, Ohio.

The new swimming pool is changing lives

I’ve always known Lakeside was a special place for people with limited mobility, especially for the elderly. An equipped van brings residents here from North Shore Retirement immediately outside the gates (although many walk in), there are many ramps, special wellness seminars, and most importantly, events to keep the mind and body active.  I think I’ve seen more walkers, wheelchairs and special scooters here in Lakekside than anyplace in my life. I’ve been watching Marky for decades maneuver the streets.

Marky has cerebral palsy (CP), a physical disability that affects movement, muscle tone and posture. Despite the CP, he is very independent and while at Lakeside he lives in a wing of his parents’ cottage and at home in independent living. His special scooter makes him mobile and he’s made many friends over the years. When a pool and wellness center was announced, like all of us, his family watched with curiosity,

“I didn’t have a clear picture of how it would be,” his mom Becky Donithan said “I was unsure if we would have enough room or if it would be too crowded. But when I first saw it, it was incredible. I knew it would be great for our family.
With the ADA-approved lift-chair and the entry ramp for his scooter, Marky is granted access to an activity like he never was before. At his IDLA home, Marky exercises on a treadmill for about 10 minutes each day, but swimming works a whole extra set of muscles.

“He can’t walk on land, but he can walk in water,” she said. “It was such a special moment for Marky and our family when he swam in Lakeside for the first time. It’s given him the opportunity to get in the pool and have the freedom to feel and look like everyone else.”

Marky’s whole family was in tow for his first day at the pool. Parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins gathered to swim as a family. He had only ever been swimming a few times before in his life, but he has become significantly better at it with each visit to the pool this summer.

“He would live here all year if he could,” Donithan said. “This place is a little piece of heaven for him because he can be himself and it is just so safe and accessible, especially now with the pool.”

From the Lakeside Blog

Hoover entertainment, August 9

We had a fabulous program last night at Lakeside Hoover Auditorium. Dave Bennett seemed to be a quiet, refined jazz clarinetist/quartet who played the pop classics from the 30s and 40s, then he worked up into the 50s, with a sweet "Earth Angel," picked up the electric guitar, did a little Elvis and Johnny Cash, then took off his sport coat went to the piano and did three or four Jerry Lee Lewis numbers. I thought he’d destroy the Steinway! At one point he picked up some extra sticks and played a mean drum solo. Unbelievable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3dBLOOXUec

  Rockin the 50s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVZ73BMa9oo

He recently appeared in Dixon, IL.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyZMspoKmAY

Let's educate the right, says the left

"We need to educate people on the right" said some Hollywood actor (never heard of him). Like having all broadcast media and cable news outlets, plus the major newspapers, the entire entertainment industry, political control of the largest cities, most of the colleges and universities and public libraries is just not enough for progressives/leftists.

Let's blame Trump

Colin Kaepernick, Free Agent

Michael Smith opines on Facebook on poor pitiful Pearl, aka Colin Kaepernick:

Let us not forget the personal anguish experienced by professional activist Colin Kaepernick and the rampant institutional racial discrimination in America that caused it. The list includes:

1. He has a white birth mother and a black biological father, making him bi-racial, not black.

2. He was adopted by a white, middle class couple.

3. His white adoptive parents made it possible for him to go to college, where he starred in football4. He was drafted by the racist NFL.

5. He signed a $126 million contract that stipulates his pay goes down if his level of play goes down.

6. His level of play declined and he was benched, consequently, his salary went down.

7. He publicly protested the institutional racism demonstrated by items #1-6 by kneeling on the sidelines during the national anthem at NFL games.

8. He and his radical girlfriend made inflammatory statements about his "plight" and how his problems are white America's fault.

9. He becomes a free agent and continues his radicalism.

10. He goes to Ghana to "find his roots" even though his roots are in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and Turlock, California.

11. No NFL team wants to touch an average backup with an attitude issue who had one good year as a starter.

Such is the sad saga of racial discrimination of a bi-racial, millionaire athlete who, because of America, had the chance 99.9% of the rest of America never will and apparently blew it.

The struggle is real, ya'll.”

These are not my stats ( HT James Wass), but I did go on-line and check for accuracy. Right on the money.

"Colin Kaepernick was 36th pick in his draft, high up in the second round. White privileged Johnny Manziel was 22nd in the first round a couple years later.

Let's compare their careers to a 6th round shlub from 2000. Tom Brady put in the work and turned out the numbers. Nothing is rewarded like results."

http://thefederalist.com/2017/06/07/colin-kaepernick-looking-work/

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/jay-cutler-dolphins-colin-kaepernick-49ers-wont-play-nfl-2017-retired-quarterbacks/jy1hmicwi14f1jhsyz4wwlr2m

Gender statistics and Google

An NSF 2014 report claims the number of Science & Engineering bachelor's degrees awarded annually rose steadily from 398,602 in 2000 to 589,330 in 2012. Women received a slim majority of these degrees in EVERY year. Women’s share of undergraduate degrees is 57%. By age 30, women in the U.S. population begin to outnumber men (many more boys are born than girls), but at age 20-24, the age at which most graduate from college, the males are ahead of females by about 443,000 (2010 census). So there is a big gender imbalance--at the expense of men. Where are the safe spaces for men? Where is the hand wringing?

However, this NSF report includes “psychology and social sciences” in the S & E figure, but not health sciences, which in my opinion makes it almost worthless. Men do outnumber women in computer science and engineering, despite 40 years of special pushing and workshops for women. By lumping so many sciences together, from psychology to agriculture, it is possible to claim that women aren’t getting a fair deal in hiring/promotion for computer jobs. Especially at Google which doesn’t want crack downs on misuse of the H1B visas so more Americans can be hired. It wouldn't surprise me if foreign born Asian and Indians outnumber American men at Google. But I seriously doubt those stats are available.

Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google was born in the Soviet Union.  Do you suppose this type of totalitarianism is in the blood?

https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/truth-women-stem-careers/

https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/data/college-14.html

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/08/542180434/google-fires-engineer-who-criticized-diversity-efforts

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/08/google-fires-employee-who-wrote-10-page-anti-diversity-manifesto
 

Remember when Bill Clinton . . .

Leading while tweeting

Atlantic, Aug. 2, 2017, summarizes all the things Trump has been able to accomplish while everyone, left and right, obsesses over his tweets.

"remaking the justice system, rewriting environmental rules, overhauling public-lands administration, and greenlighting major infrastructure projects. It is appointing figures who will guarantee the triumph of its ideological vision for decades to come.”

Now, the author isn't happy about this, but just as the right misjudged how smart Obama was, they are now misjudging how much Trump is accomplishing because he knows how to delegate (and hire and fire).

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/what-trump-is-actually-accomplishing/535458/

Are there alternatives to Cable? Yes.

I’m following a discussion by people who have given up cable, particularly because of the biased MSM but also the expense. Is it any wonder the polls got the election all wrong, because no one is listening to that garbage any more? Here’s a selection of comments.

‘We moved and cut our satellite/cable TV. No more $167 per month for Direct TV. We opted to just use the Roku we already have, using internet we need to have anyway, and add Sling TV for local channels and sports.”

“I listen to talk radio during the day til 4 or 5 pm then I go to ROKU for Glenn Beck for evening entertainment it's NetFlix or occasionally a network show.”

“I actually stopped watching almost everything on Fox too. Just watch the six o'clock news, but I'm not addicted to that anymore either. I'm much more productive and much less stressed out I must say.”

“We started with Sling but moved to Playstation Vue because of Fox News. We also get Redzone for football through Vue for my husband. More streams than Sling too though we don't use that many. Playstations Vue has more local channels too. Don't miss DirectTV though I think my husband misses NFL Sunday Ticket.”

“We don't watch any broadcast or cable news anymore. I use feedly to manage a large set of news sources organized by category and that's my daily source of information. There's far more diversity in my daily news diet than what can be found flipping through channel after channel of airheads and screamers.”

“You like to listen to the news - not necessarily watch? I'd get XM radio. We got an XM Roadie radio and we take it with us when we go on vacation but when at home have it hooked up to Bose. You can listen to Fox News plus all sorts of other goodies. We love Old Time Radio classics. Nothing like listening to The Whistler when out in the remote regions of Maine.... The Whistler knows!”

“YouTube has good news feeds from around the world that I find more varied and sane than the American media right now. BBC has their own set of biases, but is still worthwhile. Billwhittle.com has excellent conservative commentary. I stream all of these on our TV through the Xbox. Any big stories or disasters tend to show up. I also go online, browse headlines to see if there is anything that needs further investigation. Haven't bothered with broadcast news in years and don't miss them except for breaking local stories. We did get a little antenna to pick up channels for when my Mom comes over, and used that for local weather and a local shooting incident.”

“I haven't had cable since I graduated college in '03.  All news comes from the internet. Honestly, I cannot stand tv news at this point. Too much cross talk, less depth, and I can read much faster.”

“Sling offers The Blaze and BBC World News. Sky News UK streams live on YouTube. NewsOn has news shows from hundreds of local stations around the country.”

“During Gulf War I, we were glued to cnn & of course local news stations (I live across the street from the gate at NAS Jacksonville & my husband was stationed at VP-30 at the time). CNN and any national news outlet repeatedly broadcast things I knew to be untrue. I swore off television news forever. When I read the same things in the newspaper, I stopped reading that, too. I have weakened a few times over the years - Election2000 (thank goodness we had FNC by then) when we were in Hawai'i, Katrina coverage, the Summer of the Hurricanes - but basically I simply don't bother with television at all. For several years, talk radio was my line to 'news.' Then that guy from Chicago became prominent, and I had to listen to soundbites from him or #derhillderbeest or any one of the scum in the Swamp, so I went to sports talk radio. Been an avid fan for ten years now. Used to be some espn, but now it's almost all local sports talk or MLB or Dave Ramsey. Now that we're in our house again, we have antenna tv, MLB.tv, PGATOURLIVE, and Sling. Along with Amazon Prime, I have everything I need without the negative ugly crap I used to let ruin my days. It's not for everyone, but I am a much happier woman than I was. I do now occasionally listen to Rush again, especially if Steyn is subbing.”

Summers on absurdity in academe

Following the end of Clinton’s term, Larry Summers served as the 27th President of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. In a 2005 speech he suggested that the under-representation of women in science and engineering could be due to a “different availability of aptitude at the high end,” and less to patterns of discrimination and socialization. That ended his Harvard time although there were other conflicts. In 2016 he was interviewed by Bill Kristol.

"There is a great deal of absurd political correctness. Now, I’m somebody who believes very strongly in diversity, who resists racism in all of its many incarnations, who thinks that there is a great deal that’s unjust in American society that needs to be combated, but it seems to be that there is a kind of creeping totalitarianism in terms of what kind of ideas are acceptable and are debatable on college campuses." Larry Summers 2016

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/1/21/summers-race-interview/

http://conversationswithbillkristol.org/transcript/larry-summers-ii-transcript/

“Summers rejoined public service during the Obama administration, serving as the Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama from January 2009 until November 2010, where he emerged as a key economic decision-maker in the Obama administration’s response to the Great Recession. After his departure from the NEC in December 2010, Summers has worked in the private sector and as a columnist in major newspapers. “

http://www.thoughtleaders.world/en/leader/lawrence-summers/

There’s really nothing startling about his comments on political correctness—conservatives have been seeing this totalitarianism for years, but wealthy, privileged liberals don’t seem to get it until it is turned on them, sort of like the show trials of the Soviet Union in the 1930s when the loyal party members were purged.

Liberals and conservatives should be able to agree to get this changed.

“Every year, police and prosecutors across the United States take hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, cars, homes and other property—regardless of the owners’ guilt or innocence. Under civil forfeiture laws, the government can seize this property on the mere suspicion that it is connected to criminal activity. No charges or convictions are required. And once property is seized, owners must navigate a confusing, complex and often expensive legal process to try to win it back. Worst of all, most civil forfeiture laws give law enforcement agencies a powerful incentive to take property: a cut, or even all, of forfeiture proceeds. “

https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/policing-for-profit-2nd-edition.pdf

Holding government accountable

Taxpayers Protection Alliance, non-profit non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.

Let Freedom Ring, USA, a non-profit, nonpartisan public policy membership organization, with a three-pronged mission statement. Our mission is to promote: constitutional government, economic freedom, and traditional values.

Americans for Limited Government  is dedicated to restoring the constitutional, limited powers of government at the federal, state, and local level.  ALG does this by fighting to reduce the size and scope of government, protecting individuals rights, promoting federalism, and rolling back the tyranny of the administrative state.  This will put America first, foster free enterprise, and restore the rule of law.

American Commitment is dedicated to restoring and protecting the American Commitment to free markets, economic growth, Constitutionally-limited government, property rights, and individual freedom.

Club for Growth is a national network of over 100,000 pro-growth, limited government Americans who share in the belief that prosperity and opportunity come from economic freedom. 

Heritage Action for America is a 501(c)(4) organization,  sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, widely respected government relations team and dedicated grassroots activists that advance conservative policy.

American Conservative Union was founded in 1964,  and is the nation’s original conservative organization. For more than fifty years, ACU has served as an umbrella organization harnessing the collective strength of conservative organizations fighting for Americans who are concerned with liberty, personal responsibility, traditional values, and strong national defense. Every year since 1973, ACU proudly hosts CPAC.

Diversity pains

He recalled a panel discussion during orientation at which a student said, “We should burn down Pomona” because “elite colleges represented white supremacist patriarchy.” Mr. Gu found the idea absurd.

“You are going to a $60,000-a-year school and you’re either there because your parents are wealthy or the school has given you a full ride and you are saying it’s a dangerous environment for you,” he said. “There is a strange sense of entitlement.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/education/edlife/protests-claremont-college-student-demands.html?

Talk and read to your children

I wonder sometimes how my mother got so smart--many happy memories of her reading to my brother and me while the three of us cuddled in a large overstuffed chair. Actually it was one of those huge 1940s era upholstered chairs with wide arms, so I was sitting on the arm.  As a child, I often wished Mom would stop talking--she believed in reasoning with children rather than spanking.  Occasionally I thought a spanking would be better than a long explanation of my mischief and misbehavior.

Building a young child's vocabulary is essential for future success. To keep me quiet, Mom would make up stories while braiding my hair and she would talk so softly I'd have to listen. And music. Our home was filled with it--usually our piano lessons, but sometimes just for fun. Only one of us was good enough to earn a living at it.  And we four children with the oldest playing the piano presented programs with our off key quartet to local groups and clubs. It was my little brother who stole the show since he was so cute. Even though our church uses huge screens with words of hymns, I always pull out the hymnal if available and practice sight reading the music. Screens in churches have killed what little knowledge many had of music.

And most critical--I had a hard working father who was home every night. He didn't play with us, or tuck us in at night. He didn't hug or kid around. Most of my friends (especially boy friends) were afraid of him. But we saw how he treated our mother and his mother. Like they were the most important persons in his life--and they were.

How did our parents get so wise without academic research?

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/parent-involvement-in-early-literacy-erika-burton?

https://lifehacker.com/eight-ways-to-help-improve-your-childs-vocabulary-1645796717

http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/the-role-of-fathers-with-daughters-and-sons/

Another Civil War?

Some ugly white privilege

Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter The Rothenberg Political Report. And from his photo, he appears to have "white elitist privilege," "white snobbery," is a "major white liar," filled with "white ignorance." Can only assume he is also a rich white liberal.

Because Trump was welcomed and cheered by the people of West Virginia, Rothenberg publicly demeaned them as ignorant, stupid and unemployed, promptly becoming a "white fool" and "white tool." Absolutely NO ONE from DC should be ridiculing some one else's unemployment record, graduation rate or ability to speak English.

I guess Democrats learned nothing from Hillary's wise crack about deplorables.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/19342/political-journalist-stu-rothenberg-blasts-west-john-nolte