Celebrating the Reformation

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC) is observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. We (at Lytham Road campus) had a great sermon and concert yesterday. Yes, Martin Luther did change things, but not necessarily for the better and not alone. There were huge movements afoot.

Luther is also credited with creating the modern nation state. Warring nationalistic states protecting their own borders speaking languages not known by their neighbor states replaced Christendom ruled from Rome, which was sort of an overarching umbrella organization with a common language —Latin— and a common religion, with common values.

The ruling nobility of about 1400 little states and cities lusted for the money and wealth that went to Rome. What resulted was less a reform and more a resurgence of the barbarian tribe mentality that had taken over the Roman Empire a thousand years earlier. The result was the modern nation states of Europe that went to war with each other for the next 400 years, resulting in the bloodiest century of all—the 20th. Instead of the Holy Roman Empire the world was gifted many church entities, all called Christian—Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, etc.--all controlled by the state. (Which is why the writers of the U.S. Constitution wrote into the document that the state could not control the church.)

Today we have something like 40,000 different Protestant, Bible only, non-denominational, and Restoration churches with thousands of little popes and scandals that would make Luther’s hair stand on end. Christianity has become a “Me and Jesus” movement in the U.S. and in Europe Christianity is being replaced with millions believing instead in astrology, lucky charms and pagan practices.
Some of the chapters of Rodney Stark’s excellent book on "Reformation Myths" are available at Google books. https://books.google.com/books/about/Reformation_Myths.html…

http://www.aei.org/publication/why-liberals-may-be-out-of-step-with-everyday-americans-when-it-comes-to-religion/

They don't make things like they used to--my new blouse

This photo found on the internet is a 2x version similar to my new Merona Black White V Neck Twist Center 3/4 Sleeve Lined polyester blouse.  I bought a M, so it isn't this boxy. I wear an 8, but this thing is so tight, a size 2 woman would have a struggle putting it on--or breathing.  The problem is I didn't read the label before I bought it on sale (no returns) and didn't try it on.  I didn't notice it had a 22% spandex lining.  This thing is tight enough to be a girdle and bra all in one. It's an instrument of torture.   I wore it Friday night to a restaurant, and if I wanted to diet, I would wear something with a spandex lining!  So I decided I'd see if I could cut out the lining.  HA!  They don't make things like they use to--they make them better, neater, tighter, and meant to last forever--at least the seams of the lining. I turned it completely inside out, and every seam is bound and overstitched and firmly attached under the bust to the polyester fabric. Made in Vietnam by tiny fingers which will never let go.  So far, I cut the spandex in four places to see if I could breathe in it, then tried it on, and now think I may have a DVT under my arm.

Middle class Americans believe in education

We information junkies and professionals (primarily middle class) think if people have information on a better life, good food, climate change, domestic violence, nicotine and condoms then change happens. We believe information/education has the power to change minds, individuals, companies, politicians and eventually the world! But does it?  Public service announcements about mammograms are not the research that will reduce deaths and disfigurements. Reading a brochure on horse therapy for the mentally challenged will not buy and train a horse. Creating a network to reduce duplication is not providing a bed or chair or pots and pans.

I do think much of what is spent  for education and  information syphons off “action” funding.
Looking through the booklet for “Bucks for Charity 2017” which is OSU’s version of “community chest,” it’s evident that information/education is an integral part of many charities. I believe in education and knowledge—it’s been my life’s work—it’s why I blog and dump links and statistics on my Facebook Friends. PDHC where I volunteer provides mentoring and parenting classes, education for pregnant women and has many informational booklets, Bibles in English and Spanish,  and documents on parenting, health, pregnancy, material aid, adoption, chastity, diseases--anything needed to save the lives of babies and build stronger families.

Here are some examples from the community shares and health section of “Bucks for Charity 2017” (250 agencies) which receives 35.5% of total funding (United Way of the various communities receives 28.4%):

“health information” Community Health Charities
“conducts awareness and advocacy activities” ALS Association
“providing information” American Diabetes Association
“education, research, advocacy, outreach” American Heart Association
“educational programming, training, outreach” Down Syndrome Association
“broad based advocacy, education” Hospice Organization
“education programs” March of Dimes
“education and outreach”NAMI (mental illness)
“providing education and support” PDHC (pro-life)
“eye safety education, information” Prevent Blindness Ohio
“promotes greater understanding” American council of the blind
“offers community education” Breathing Association
“proven curriculum of 14 courses” Career Transition Institute
“promotes education” Central Ohio Green Education Fund
“educates about children’s needs” Children’s Defense Fund
“promoting decent, safe affordable housing” Coalition on Homelessness and Housing
“educates . . .insidious effects of homelessness” Columbus Coalition for the Homeless
“provides educational exhibitions, lectures, tours,” Columbus Historical Society
“provides . . . educational events” The Free Press
“educational opportunities, exchange information” Compassionate Communication
“educational programs. . . family learning, education in science, etc.” COSI
“educating and advocating fair treatment"  Equality Ohio (LGBTQ)
“promotes food production, nutrition, gardening” Four Seasons City Farm (east side)
“focused on education, employment and leadership development” Godman Guild
“safety trainings to varied populations” LifeCare Alliance (HIV/AIDS)
“provides education and inspiration” Local Matters (diet related diseases)
“disability awareness” Mid Ohio Board for an Independent Living Environment
“information about reproductive health [aka abortion]” NARAL
“preserving, revitalizing AI/AN values, rights, traditions,” Native Amer. Indian Center
“quality arts education. . . instruction” Ohio Alliance for Arts Education
“education, training, information, referral line” Ohio Domestic Violence Network
“education and advocacy” Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association
“classes on yoga and movement arts” Center for Wholeness
“research, education” Ohio NOW Education & Legal Fund
“Provides education, referral, advocacy” Ohio Veterans, Inc.
“promotes [abortion]” Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio
“providing services, knowledge, tools and equipment” Rebuilding Together Central Ohio
“provides service learning programs” See Kids Dream
“connects people to learning opportunities. . .educational outreach” Simply Living
“advocacy. . . education” Stonewall Columbus, Inc  (LGBTQ)
“information, education and referrals” Worthington Resource Pantry (healthy food)

Other organizations describe their goals/missions in these words—action goals.

“provides services,” “care and support,” “funds research,” “fighting xyz disease,” “mission is to cure xyz disease,” “cure, prevent, treat xys disease,” “boost social skills,” “promotes lung health” “helps, adopts, investigates,” “provides adoption services (cats), subsidizes poor,” “provides free breakfast and lunch, medical screenings,” “interpreting, C-print, ADA assistance, employment (deaf),” “provides therapeutic horse programming” “healthcare for LGBTQ, HIV,” “cooperative community gardening,” “provides free furniture,” “financial assistance for families of First Responders,” “provides glass for art,” “builds decent, affordable houses,” “direct services for homeless, HIV, addiction, incarceration,” “provides temporary subsidized housing,” “provides food, clothing, registering for government benefits,” “provides nutritious food,” “provides assistance to families with critically ill children,” “provides food, housing, transportation, employment opportunities,” “transports pets from rural shelters” and “bicycles for transportation.”

Evaluate your time. Check your wallet.  Measure your success.  Education takes a long, long time, and may or may not work. A hot meal and change of clothes is immediate, and gets that task taken care of so you and the recipient (the Bible says he's Jesus) can move on.

You've got to read Tinseltown Travelogue

Tinseltown Travelogue is a three-part series exploring Hollywood's stunning hypocrisy and institutionalized bigotry. This story, months in the making, comes on the heels of the explosive New York Times exposé of alleged sexual misconduct over decades by Tinseltown's most celebrated producer, Harvey Weinstein, and further unmasks an industry in the midst of an ethical unraveling. http://www.breitbart.com/tinseltown/2/  (Part 3 isn't on the website yet)

So what should we call this lack of diversity, a gap or -ism?

"When reviewing publicly published data for all actors nominated in 2017 for best actor/actress in a lead or supporting scripted role for the Oscars, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Primetime Emmys, there wasn’t a single publicly verifiable right-of-center nominated actor out of the 240 potential awards. Not one. These are some of the most vocal stars in Hollywood because they are interviewed by media throughout the ...year as a result of their nominations. With the most prominent celebrities being almost uniformly liberal – Republicans are largely the only faction meaningfully affecting box office revenues based on politics. To Middle America, Hollywood has long been considered the enemy – and they’re acting on that relationship by closing their wallets." Tinseltown Travelogue, pt. 1.

The black-list of conservatives, and particularly anyone who voted for Trump or is even sympathetic, is bigger and badder than when it was a Communist witch hunt 60 years ago; now it's a black-list of any conservative except the old icons like Clint Eastwood by the left and the Communists in Hollywood. Everyone else has to hide in the closet; they don't dare speak freely or they'll never work again.

"When blacks claimed a lack of diversity approaching this level of disparity for just one award show, a national debate branded #OscarsSoWhite swept the nation. Not so much as a peep has been heard from the media about Movie City’s snub of rightwingers."

Here's the lack of political diversity: 76% left wing, 3% right wing, 21% unclear (based on campaign donations, public statements, and verifiable social media accounts). So that makes it about 90% left wing.

So minorities, women and conservatives have been abused by the liberals in Hollywood, who only love and respect their own. Jason Hall, the director of "Thank you for your service" is an anti-Trumper according to this personal account and ridiculed the author's wife on social media (a Mexican immigrant).

"In early January 2017, an anonymous email went out to members of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) suggesting that they would be blacklisted if they worked on the TV broadcast of Trump’s inauguration. Recipients thought the message was sent from someone of rank at the DGA. A union spokesperson confirmed with Breitbart News that they performed an investigation and were unable to identify the perpetrator of the email.

"When actress Nicole Kidman made the fairly benign statement days before the Inauguration that Americans should move on from the election and unite in support of the new president – third-generation TV writer Joss Whedon played the enforcer of Hollywood’s one-party system by mocking Kidman’s looks, and labeling her a “Puppet for Trump. Seemingly fearing further retribution, Kidman quickly backed off her statement." Tinseltown travelogue, pt. 2 

"In March 2017, when asked by Jimmy Kimmel if he’d attended Trump’s inauguration, actor and self-professed conservative Tim Allen hesitantly replied yes, joking that he had to answer carefully in a Hollywood that was acting like 1930s Germany. The liberal mainstream media savaged him for his statement, and his TV show, Last Man Standing, with the second highest viewership for a comedy on ABC, was canceled within months." Tinseltown Travelogue, pt. 2.

How the DOJ slush fund worked

Eight years of criminal behavior at the highest levels. Much worse than anything Nixon ever thought of. How did the Department of Justice slush fund work? Judicial Watch explains:

"An Obama-era scheme that forced companies sued by the government to fund leftist groups overtly excluded conservative organizations, according to internal Department of Justice (DOJ) records obtained by Judicial Watch. As part of settlements, the DOJ would often give the corporations—mainly big banks—double credit if they gave money to LEFTWING INTEREST GROUPS handpicked by the administration instead of paying the government. The new records demonstrate a collaborative effort among high-level officials in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General (OAAG) and the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to ensure conservative groups did not receive any settlement cash.

The operation is known as a DOJ “slush fund” that filled the coffers of Obama-allied nonprofits such as the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA, URBAN LEAGUE, and NATIONAL COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT COALITION [also heavily involved in the 2008 housing collapse] Earlier this year Judicial sued the DOJ for records relating to the problematic Obama administration policy of settling government lawsuits against corporate defendants by requiring that the corporations make “donations” to leftwing interest groups.

Back in 2010 Judicial Watch sued the DOJ over a similar program in which the agency’s Civil Rights Division directed large sums of cash settlements in discrimination lawsuits to organization that were not officially connected to the lawsuits. Recipients were also leftist groups that aligned with Obama’s ultra-liberal agenda." For more:  http://jw.structure.email/press-release/10-27-17-cc-media
 

A bargain at $37,000

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/438-S-Eureka-Ave-Columbus-OH-43204/33846688_zpid/

Sometimes I click on an ad. A house in Hilltop (west side of Columbus) for $37,000. Looked nice--video went back to 2006. So I checked the "neighborhood" for owner/residents. (I think it is currently a rental for $700). Seems this house has anywhere from 23-38 residents. Is that possible in a 3 bedroom, one bath, 1100 sq.ft. house? Is this why we need voter ID checks?

The anti-Catholic films of Harvey Weinstein

What would you say if someone had financed and encouraged nine films bashing Jews or Muslims or women? What if the films were about Catholics? Would that be OK? How much of your knowledge of the Catholic church has come from films?  Harvey Weinstein's anti-Catholic films:

*Priest (1995), a film that centers around homosexuality, celibacy and the priesthood. 

*The Butcher Boy (1998) is about a young boy who is molested by a priest in a reform school and is fascinated by delusional fantasies about a foul-mouthed Virgin Mary played by everyone’s favorite bigot, Sinéad O'Connor. Birds of a feather flock together. 

*Dogma (1999), a confusing pastiche of Catholic beliefs, pagan myths and atheist Black Legend slapped together about the end of the world in which a descendant of Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph who works in an abortion clinic. 

*40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) ridicules Catholics who remain celibate for Lent treating sacrifice and abstention as if it was feat of strength rather than a spiritual offering to God. 

*The Magdalene Sisters (2002) depicted lies about Irish nuns falsely portraying them as abusive toward young wayward women they had “enslaved” in their laundries. In reality, the Irish secular government, dumped these women with the nuns as their families had already disowned them. The nuns gave them food, board and spiritual guidance and showed them love saving these young women from having to prostitute themselves. 

*Bad Santa (2003) depicted a mall Santa who was a vulgar, drunken, suicidal, chain-smoking, sex-addicted thief. Some have drawn parallels between this mockery of this children’s icon and Weinstein himself. 

*Sin City (2005) which depicted a Catholic bishop who aides and abets a serial murderer and engages in cannibalism. 

*Black Christmas (2006) is a tiresome slasher film replete with gratuitous sex and foul language. Both Harvey and his brother Bob were remarkably hands-on with this film. 

*Philomena (2013) was another set of lies reminiscent of the Black Legend that insisted that “evil” nuns had kidnapped a woman’s child. Actually, Philomena Lee abandoned her out-of-wedlock son when she was a teenager. It was the actions of the nuns, who often run orphanages around the world and throughout the past two millennia, who gave the child to an American couple who adopted him. Weinstein lobbied the Academy in the hope of getting an Oscar for Philomena. Thankfully, he failed. . .  

Both anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism should be condemned, without exception. Bigots, however, often condemn one while eagerly engaging in the other."

 When Weinstein received a Humanitarian award in 2015, he condemned anti-Semitism.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/astagnaro/a-litany-of-harvey-weinsteins-catholic-bashing-films

http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/miramax-oscar-campaigns-harvey-weinstein-timeline.html

The hacked e-mails of Clinton

I missed this in the Hillary hacked leaks. Rereading BBC list. Podesta also called Sanders "a doofus." Is it racist or bigoted to refer to people as "food groups?"

"Mrs Clinton's campaign considered Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates or his wife Melinda as her running mate, according to the hacked emails. 

Mr Podesta drafted a list of nearly 40 names for her potential vice-presidential pick, organising it by what he called "rough food groups", which appeared to refer to demographic coalitions. 

The list included Hispanic, white and black men, three former high-ranking military officers, business leaders and female senators.  

Among those included were Apple's Tim Cook, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, General Motors' Marry Barra and Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz. 

Senator Bernie Sanders was listed in a group by himself. "  

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37639370

Ben Carson quote

 
"The 2010 budget request for the International Military Education and Training programme proposed to increase funding for African countries from just under US$14 million to more than US$16 million, with additional increases for North African countries. Major recipients slated for increases include Algeria, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, NIGER, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. . .during her visit to Nigeria in August 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised that the administration would consider any request by the Nigerian government for military support to enhance its capacity to repress armed militants in the Niger Delta region. The failure of the Nigerian government to implement major elements of its amnesty programme in this vital oil-producing area has recently led to a resumption of violent incidents and attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta." https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/obama-and-us-military-engagement-africa

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/05/21/map-the-u-s-currently-has-troops-in-these-african-countries/

The DOJ and the gag order

I know Democrats and the MSM are trying their best to ignore the ballooning  bribery and pay to play scandal of the Clintons, the CFIUS (inter-agency committee authorized to review transactions that could result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person) with the FBI involvement. Democrats are calling it a plot by Brietbart and Fox. Bank receipts, pay offs, etc. Bob Mueller, who was with the FBI at the time of the transfer to Russia and the original investigation is implicated.  Plus the dossier scandal and the British spy.  Oh my.  So much to learn. Democrats were so eager to track every crumb of evidence when they thought it was about Trump colluding with Russia!

The Justice Department says it has lifted a gag order preventing an FBI informant from telling Congress details about the Obama-era deal in which a Russian-backed company bought a uranium firm with mines in the U.S. Although some Democrats will be willing to throw Hillary under the bus to save St. Obama, others will stand with her.  They still have the Clinton crime machine even if the foundation is gone to go after them.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/10/25/justice-department-provides-fbi-uranium-one-informant-to-congress.html

Russia, Clinton and Fusion GPS

Which is worse? Russia buying social media ads (half of which were after the campaign) or Hillary selling our Uranium to the Russians who give it to Iran and North Korea? Which is worse? Trump’s bull in a china shop behavior and language or Clinton and DNC paying a spy to bring down his campaign?

What’s coming out now is almost incomprehensible—DNC and Clinton campaign behind the phony dossier that FBI showed Trump before election (which he denied) and now the FBI and Mueller are implicated, as well as Hillary and Obama. They all knew about Uranium One deal, the money she and Bill got, and just gave her a pass. Forget Flake and Corker.  They are just nothings. This crime goes to the highest levels, much worse than anything Nixon ever thought of.   But the woman we could have elected as president?  The DoJ and FBI and our former president all colluding to smear and implicate Trump in a crazy Russian scandal to destabilize not just his candidacy, but then his presidency?  She’s lower than I thought. And One World Obama’s going down fast. Who will investigate Bob Mueller who is investigating the president? He knew also!

 But I’m worried about the unnamed Republican who was involved with Steele (the British spy) before the Clintons took over the dirty deal.  Who knows maybe it was Flake or Corker, but supposedly it was one of the primary candidates. Hoping it wasn’t Cruz, my favorite after Walker, Jindal and Carson.  As they say, get out the popcorn for this thriller, but we’ll need a score card. The Washington Post has the story—and Bezos must have had to swallow gasoline to even allow it in print.

"The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump’s connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said." Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2017.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/clinton-campaign-dnc-paid-for-research-that-led-to-russia-dossier/2017/10/24/226fabf0-b8e4-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html?utm_term=.1f3857c9c53b

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/356999-clinton-campaign-dems-helped-fund-research-for-trump-dossier-report

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/24/sean-hannity-real-russia-probe-exposes-clintons-obama-not-president-trump.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/24/politics/fusion-gps-clinton-campaign/index.html

I guess Weinstein is out of the news for the duration while we watch Hillary Clinton's lie on her book tour.

Feeding America's hungry children

 This charity, Feeding America, suggests donating to them because hungry children can't learn, but 13 million U.S. children get free or reduced cost breakfasts at school, free or reduced cost lunches, and free after school snacks, and special plans for summer time and camps through USDA programs. If you read through Feeding America's programs, none seem to be about breakfast at school.

FA is now 35 years old, a charity (2nd Harvest) begun by one person to distribute food surpluses. However, the government's definition of hunger has expanded and is now "food insecurity," not hunger, and all the programs, both government and charities, have expanded. Low income households are not dumb about their resources. As food programs expand, those households factor that into their budgets, leaving more cash for non-food items such as rent, utilities, clothing, alcohol, cigarettes, gasoline, cell phone contracts, etc. Studies show that even with the lowest unemployment rate since the early 1970s, food pantries are still an important resource for many households, some increasing their visits from occasional to regular.

Although the recession ended in June 2009, participation in SNAP, the government's largest low income food program, has never returned to pre-2008 levels, in part because people were recruited to participate with expanded ARRA money. Yes, it sounds heartless to question why so many people remain on government and charity food programs when we have 123 transfer of wealth programs to assist, however, some questions need to be asked about why parents are not using their resources to feed their children.  A low income family with children can receive about $400/month in just SNAP benefits, plus access to USDA programs at school and church food pantries. And yes, a family can eat very well using just SNAP--there's a cook book on line.

 

Monday Memories--the Tulamo anniversary tour

Dinner at Houlihan's Oct. 22

The Tulamos have been with us eight days out of their 6 week tour of the United States to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.  We met about 38 years ago when Riitta was a student at the veterinary college at Ohio State University.  We helped them find an apartment, loaned them a bicycle, brought them to church with us, and enjoyed many happy holidays and family occasions with them.

We picked them up on Monday evening at the airport and came home for dinner. On Tuesday we went to the Columbus Museum of Art (see earlier blog).  On Wednesday Steve and Valerie Regoli picked them up at our home in the morning and brought them home late at night. On Thursday and Friday we went to Lakeside to see the cottage where we spend our summers.  In looking at our cottage guest book we saw it was Oct. 19, 1991, they had been there on a previous trip back to the states (but it was very cold that year).  That night we ate at Cleat's. The weather couldn't have been better and after a visit to the lighthouse on Friday we had a picnic on the Lakefront. Friday night we went out to eat with our daughter and son-in-law at the Rusty Bucket in Upper Arlington to celebrate his birthday.  On Saturday we drove to Circleville to the pumpkin show--something like 400,000 people show up to look at one block of pumpkins and 10 blocks of carnival rides and food. On Sunday after church we had a brunch for 18 at our home and invited the few people still around who knew them almost 40 years ago, and on Monday they visited the studio in German Village of a cartoonist Bob knows.  That evening we went out as their guests to Houlihan's for dinner--a final anniversary dinner, which they've done in each location they've visited--Napa Valley in California, Colorado, Minneapolis, Wisconsin. Now they are off to Boston for some final sight seeing.

Group selfie at dinner, Oct. 15

Group selfie at the lake, Oct. 18

At Lake Erie Oct. 18

 Our shoes at Marblehead

Boats docked at Cleat's, Oct. 18

Brunch for Tulamos Oct. 21

 

14 styles mistakes that will age us

Now we know why we age—we’re making fashion mistakes!  Leggings, tights, long hair, bulky tent look, clothes not fitting our body style, too much black, too many accessories, and wearing athletic clothes in public! 

http://www.fashionbeans.com/content/style-mistakes-that-will-age-you?

I hope there’s a better way to say this—very odd and awkward sentence construction. “Oversized clothing won’t only make you look larger but it’ll take your natural shape away from you too so it’ll give the illusion of exaggerating your size – and that’s probably not what you want. So, avoid anything that resembles a tent.”

Notice the pronouns

Although I don't think the media ever mentioned it, social media was all over Obama for 8 years for his use of the first person pronoun.  I, me, my, were the main topics of many of his speeches. Trump's speeches are very different.  He talks about doing things together, or our partners, or "we".  I think his ego is just a large as the former president's, but having been a business man he knows the value of commended those under him to keep the team working hard.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE...
October 21, 2017
   
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Defeat of ISIS in Raqqah
   
I am pleased to announce that the Syrian Democratic Forces, our partners in the fight against ISIS in Syria, have successfully recaptured Raqqah – the terrorist group’s self-proclaimed capital city. Together, our forces have liberated the entire city from ISIS control.
  
The defeat of ISIS in Raqqah represents a critical breakthrough in our worldwide campaign to defeat ISIS and its wicked ideology. With the liberation of ISIS’s capital and the vast majority of its territory, the end of the ISIS caliphate is in sight.
  
We will soon transition into a new phase in which we will support local security forces, de-escalate violence across Syria, and advance the conditions for lasting peace, so that the terrorists cannot return to threaten our collective security again. Together, with our allies and partners, we will support diplomatic negotiations that end the violence, allow refugees to return safely home, and yield a political transition that honors the will of the Syrian people.
  
One of my core campaign promises to the American people was to defeat ISIS and to counter the spread of hateful ideology. That is why, in the first days of my Administration, I issued orders to give our commanders and troops on the ground the full authorities to achieve this mission. As a result, ISIS strongholds in Mosul and Raqqah have fallen. We have made, alongside our coalition partners, more progress against these evil terrorists in the past several months than in the past several years.
I commend all of our coalition partners for the sacrifices they have made in this noble effort. Therefore, as we recognize this military accomplishment, we also pause to honor our service men and women and all they have given to protect us and all civilized people from these modern day barbarians.
  
Today, we reaffirm that ISIS leaders, and anyone who supports them, must and will face justice.

The Tulamos are here

We visited the Columbus Museum of Art today.  We ate in the lovely new restaurant then toured the building, with Martti taking photos. We met about 39 years ago when Riitta was a PhD student in the veterinary college at Ohio State, and they have been touring the U.S. since September 19 for their 40th anniversary celebration.  Both are retired now and about 70 years old.  And they were such youngsters when we met and now have 2 grandbabies. And the brakes started going bad in the van this week, so we also made a mad dash to have them fixed ($760.79) so we took the smaller SUV to drive downtown, which gave us a lot of laughs trying to get in and out of the back seat, which I think was intended for children.

"Best places" to live

It was an article on Facebook. So I took a look.  Olathe, KS, Kirkland, WA, Atascocita, TX, Carmel, IN and many others. Diversity is not highly valued or one of the criteria in these "best of" lists no matter who makes them (and there are many). Kirkland has 1.2% black citizens, Olathe 3.7%. Atascocita, TX, which I've never heard of, has 19.2% black citizens. In fact, cities in the south were all pretty good in that category. So I dug a little deeper. 

 Maryland is the wealthiest state in the country. The town with both a good livability rating and a good racial mix is Columbia (wonder how long it will be allowed to keep that name?). It is about 50 years old and was designed by a Christian businessman to be "perfect," with a mix of housing, business, organizations, religions and races, with easy access to DC. In the livability rating, it doesn't rate as high as McLean, VA, also a DC suburb which has only 1.45% black, but an Asian population double the Maryland percentage. It's just a few miles from Columbia. Both McLean and Columbia rate F in affordability, but A or A+ in other categories like crime, schools, etc. McLean has a marriage rate much higher than Maryland or Columbia.

Women in technology fields

I'm not the least bit concerned about the underrepresentation of women in the tech industry. Those companies hire those who can make them a profit, including a disproportionate number of foreign workers. They all lean heavily to the Left, so take it up with the protestors. Women also don't choose the same career track in college, and when they do get into tech/computer work, many don't like the culture, nerdy, male and strange. No one worried that in my career field (library science) women outnumber the men at all levels. Women outnumber men in almost all the professional colleges--law, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and Dartmouth has reported finally women outnumber men in engineering. In many cities, women in similar age groups and education level earn more than similarly qualified men. Where are the protests? A capitalist will look at the bottom line, and if that bottom is on a woman, she gets the job.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/10/women-are-more-concerned-than-men-about-gender-discrimination-in-tech-industry/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/04/04/u-s-cities-where-women-earn-more-than-men/#5645bc4c4544

Hefner and Weinstein

From my vantage point, I can see no difference between Hefner and Weinstein. One was eulogized for dying rich with a bevy of bimbos, the other condemned without a trial after years of his accomplices praising him and accepting his wealth. Two guys who got rich using and objectifying women. So I decided to Google it, and found something interesting. Hypocrisy (shocking, I know).

"Hefner and Weinstein were known to use their power to manipulate their victims, but the manipulation lives on as we eulogize these men. We need look no further than the editorials produced around both Hefner's death and the revelations of Weinstein's assaults to see how their influence holds sway over our judgement of them, too. Obituaries unsure whether to memorialize or condemn the creator of Playboy abounded in late September. Now, exposés of Harvey Weinstein similarly vacillate between the bullet points of his lengthy resume and the fact that all the while he has been serially harassing women in Hollywood."  https://verilymag.com/2017/10/news-media-confusing-coverage-of-harvey-weinstein-and-hugh-hefner-10162017