NATO costs—for decades Presidents have chided them

I've been browsing what past leaders and presidents have said about NATO costs, and there's virtually no difference from Trump--or rather, the difference is he means it. I'd forgotten that President Clinton was behind the expansion of NATO in the mid 90s and had virtually no plan to pay for it (except we'd continue the lion's share). It's no wonder it's like trying to get a house back from your sister after you've provided it rent free for 50 years. The tenant is insulted and hurt--why now you big meanie? You're picking on me.

Here's Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign. "Sanders said, "We spend about 75 percent of the entire cost of the military aspect of NATO. Given the fact that France has a very good health care system and free public education, college education for their people, the U.K. has a good National Health Service and they also provide fairly reasonable higher education, you know what, yeah, I do believe that the countries of Europe should pick up more of the burden for their defense." (Politifact, April 19, 2016)

Politifact is liberal so of course it quibbled. It refigured the math and said it was ONLY 72%. Bernie did say "about," but never mind. The choice was to criticize the Obama administration, or to support the socialist.

So maybe President Obama sounded like Mr. Rogers when he said it, but essentially on April 25, 2016, he said what Trump said sounding like a President of the U.S., and the media did not have a melt down.

“We need to stay nimble, and make sure our forces are interoperable, and invest in new capabilities like cyber defense and missile defense. And that’s why every NATO member should be contributing its full share — 2 percent of GDP — toward our common security, something that doesn’t always happen. And I’ll be honest, sometimes Europe has been complacent about its own defense.” . . . Oh yes, and Obama said he wanted a good relationship with Russia in that same speech.
In fact, the Washington Post claimed candidate Trump was essentially saying what Obama said about NATO. But that was then. . . 2016.

Today’s smoothie

Carrot juice and organic spinach for vegetables, and frozen pineapple, fresh peach (with skin) and banana.  Yummie.

Where were the ICE protests in 2013?

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-busts-significant-sex-trafficking-ring-operating-florida-north-carolina

Donald Trump wasn’t president in 2013, so there was no need to protest.  Obama was the deporter-in-chief according to some on the far left.  But thousands were released into the U.S. population, never to return for their court date.

Very sad news for our church family

“It is with great sadness that I inform you that Pastor Dave and Pam Mann’s son, Josh, died early this morning. Josh encountered numerous complications following surgery in late June and today he was called home by his Heavenly Father.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been completed, but that information will be shared with you once plans are finalized.

Thank you for your prayers thus far. It has been a blessing to the family to know that so many people have been lifting them in prayer. Please continue to pray for Pastor Dave, Pam, their children Joelle, Isaac, EJ, and the entire Mann family as they grieve the loss of their son and brother.
May we all find comfort and peace in the hope and promise of the Resurrection!”

This just a week after the death of their 4 day old grandson, EJ’s baby. The whole congregation is just reeling.

“Unaccompanied Alien Children” (UAC) included admitted murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, prostitutes, and human traffickers in 2014

"Judicial Watch today released 224 pages of documents containing nearly 1,000 summaries of Significant Incident Reports (SIRs) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealing that “Unaccompanied Alien Children” (UAC) processed during the Obama administration included admitted murderers, rapists, drug smugglers, prostitutes, and human traffickers.

The documents, from the HHS Administration for Children and Families reported to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), are for the approximate six-month period May to November 2014. The reports Include 1,000 ‘Significant Incident Reports,’ revealing UAC ‘refugees’ admitting to murder for drug cartels, prostitution, and sexual predation."

I believe 2014 was on Obama's watch and these "children" were separated from their parents and "refugees" detained for crimes. I'm not expecting to see or hear of this on the evening news. Possibly an opinion show like Tucker Carlson might cover it. This is a long document with details and links. If you remain ignorant about what is going on/what went on, it's by choice.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-hhs-documents-reveal-that-unaccompanied-alien-children-processed-during-obama-years-included-violent-criminals-drug-smugglers-and-human-traffickers/

Diversity and White Privilege

“Do not underestimate the Trump voter. When they channel-surfed cable news, or heard of the antics that took place on college campuses, or saw street-theater demonstrations on television, they boiled at the idea that they had often worked at minimum wage, saw their jobs outsourced, never discriminated against anyone, and yet were being damned by smug youth who in a few years would draw on their college B.A. cattle brand, their parents’ lobbying, and the good-old-boy network of being rich, white, and from the proper zip code to inherit their rightful place in business, investment, politics, entertainment, the media, or the university. Google all the rich, white, privileged pundits who at one time or another, both in jest and in all seriousness, have called to deport the deplorables and in their stead give amnesty to illegal aliens or import “better” people from abroad.”

Victor Davis Hanson, https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/07/strange-career-of-white-privilege/

Kavanaugh is the pick

Therese Okoumou, the ungrateful legal immigrant

By Peggy Traeger Tierney, who has a blog and Facebook page.

“The woman who shut down the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day by illegally climbing on it, Therese Okoumou, 44, and then, after saved by the police, denounced the United States of America as "oppressive," is a legal immigrant who came to America from the Congo in 1995.

She has spent the last 20 years as an liberal activist AGAINST America, arrested numerous times, while women are mass raped, children are decapitated and soldiers eat villagers for dinner in the Congo, her country of birth. Let's ask her why she fails to address the nightmare happening in her own African country. It's on the brink of genocide. Why isn't she protesting the horrors in the Congo, where she was born, instead of being a pawn for the resistance, dishonoring America, the country that gave her a second chance at living a free and normal life. What an ungrateful, selfish, pathetic individual.

Rebels and government troops in the Kasai region of the Congo commit sickening atrocities including mass rape and cannibalism. Boys in the Congo rape their own mothers while blood-drinking soldiers feast on the flesh of dying victims. In one horrific massacre, 186 men and young boys from a single village had their heads chopped off. Little girls and boys are told that witchcraft will make them invincible against bullets. Women are forced to choose between gang rape or death.
Witnesses say the Congolese militia actually sport female genitals as medals. They cut up, cook and eat human flesh, including penises cut from men who were still alive and from corpses and drink human blood. Children are killed by machine-gun fire and their bodies are buried in mass graves … or are sometimes piled in trucks by soldiers to be buried elsewhere. Is this the 3rd world culture we want to bring to America? This is the culture Therese escaped and is disingenuously saying is somehow better than America? Lies.

Is this what Michelle Obama meant by "when they go low, we go high"? One would have to be HIGH to avert their eyes from this horror story. Therese, go home and channel your rage where it's needed most. Enough of your faux outrage over America. America is the best thing that ever happened to you.

PS: This is not her first victimhood rodeo: She claimed in 2005 that she was treated “in a demeaning manner” by her bosses and told that she would be fired “for complaining of discrimination.” It’s unclear why her complaint was tossed out.

In 2011, Okoumou made headlines after she was hit with an astounding 60 violations for illegally posting ads for her services as a personal trainer.

The Department of Sanitation slapped her with $4,500 in fines that year after she spent five hours one Sunday posting the fliers on Manhattan utility poles.

In 2017, she was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration, unlawful assembly and trespassing during a demonstration at the Department of Labor building. She had allegedly covered her mouth with tape and refused to respond to police demands. What a delightful woman.”

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/mass-rape-cannibalism-dismemberment-un-team-finds-atrocities-in-congo-war/articleshow/64846559.cms
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Today’s NutriBullet

I now have two Magic Bullet machines for making smoothies and/or mixed vegetable and fruit drinks.  One I bought at a WalMart for about $50, and the other, which is  much more elaborate with 4 cups and lids, strainer caps and 3 mixing units for $10 at a yard sale up the street in Lakeside.  I should be all set for replacing patio Donuts with delicious health drinks.

Today’s (breakfast and lunch) is carrot juice, baby spinach, banana, frozen pineapple, and melon.  It’s sort of a pale moss green—if I’d added strawberries or blue berries, it would be dog poop brown. We’ve tried the drinks using kale, but the spinach works better with our digestive systems. These drinks are not juices—contain all the fiber (except for the carrots). I don’t usually think of bananas as having a strong flavor, but when mixed with other fruits, you can always taste it.

Spinach slightly edges out kale, according to a source I quoted in 2015. But both are good. https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2012/11/08/mango-or-papaya-spinach-or-kale-food-face-offs  I also blogged about this in June. https://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/06/stems-leaves-and-stalks-in-vegetable.html

One cup of spinach meets 36 percent of the recommended daily iron value, whereas kale supplies 6 percent. As for other nutrition facts: one cup spinach has 41 calories, 4.3 grams of fiber, 5.3 grams of protein, 244.8 grams of calcium, and 838.8 milligrams of potassium. The same quantity of kale has 36 calories, 2.6 grams of fiber, 2.5 grams of protein, 93.6 grams of calcium, and 296.4 milligrams of potassium. Besides being an excellent source of potassium and calcium, spinach is a nutritional powerhouse delivering vitamins K, A, C, E, and B2. Kale is also a nutrition winner, packing vitamins K, A, C.

Pascal on the Christian religion

“The Christian religion, then, teaches men these two truths; that there is a God whom men can know, and that there is a corruption in their nature which renders them unworthy of Him. It is equally important to men to know both these points; and it is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness, and to know his own wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can free him from it. The knowledge of only one of these points gives rise either to the pride of philosophers, who have known God, and not their own wretchedness, or to the despair of atheists, who know their own wretchedness, but not the Redeemer.” Pascal's Pensées , p. 153, Gutenberg  e-book, Section VII, The fundamentals of the Christian religion. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm#SECTION_VIII

Pascal died a very young man—39--and Pensees was published after his death, and was assumed to be notes for a larger, more polished work. T.S. Eliot (20th century American/British poet and social critic), in the book’s introduction, implies his religious, theological and science ideas are so well known, he hardly needed to review them. That, of course, is not true—not sure it ever was. My own formal education is quite lacking in philosophy, religion, literature and the mathematical sciences, although that isn’t always the case for others my age, I’m guessing it is for today’s students.  I believe I was in a Bible study many years ago and did come across his famous wager for the existence of God. "If you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing."

An Arizona citizen, guest blogger Dan

“ Our problem now in AZ is human trafficking of people once they come over the border through open ranch land or Indian reservations.  Likewise for drugs.  People “mules” bring drugs across the border and stash them at an established spot to be picked up and transported to Phoenix where their sent across the country.  People in non-border states don’t appreciate just how much of this is occurring daily.  I have a neighbor who is in the Sheriff’s department and does night patrols. 
And by the way, our  local AZ county is larger than Connecticut!  Maricopa County with the infamous Sheriff Joe was larger.  He did a good job in the rural areas but the liberals in Phoenix took him down.  Phoenix is in Maricopa County.  I have a friend who drives a school bus.  She has to stop at a local low cost motel for kids, the number and who changes regularly as families of illegals move through.  How does a school system cope?  How does a teacher do a lesson plan?  And by the way, they don’t speak English.  Arizona has bad school ratings because of this and the fact rural areas don’t have a tax base to get qualified teachers.  So what’s happening? Charter schools are being used to avoid the public schools.  I don’t think things like this get much national press.” 

Obama administration was the world’s largest arms dealer

An Inconvenient Truth: How the Obama Administration Became Earth's Largest Arms Dealer
https://ammo.com/articles/earths-largest-arms-dealer-is-obama-administration-infographic

Thirty five cooking tips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbiXc5cUVus

Some of these are well worth noting!

Meaning of the Fourth, by David Keck guest blogger

“As we celebrate "The Fourth of July," let us remember that here, in the United States, it is just the fourth day in a summer month except that it is Independence Day. After all, Senegal has a fourth of July; but it is not their Independence Day. As we picnic and firework, let us remember those men who publicly put their names on this document that immediately with a signature branded them as traitors and made them marked men. And all of them had much to lose financially, and many did, as a result of of their public pronouncement and commitment. When our Constitution went into effect 13 years later, we are the only country in the world with an elected head of state. Sad as the world is now, how many dozens of countries have elected heads of state, all because those men, and those at home and in the field, who took a chance when it was not at all a sure thing, winning the peace and the right to pursue a republican form of government. The United States, with all its faults (which country criticizing us is without them?), has from the start, even before the Declaration, been that "Shining City on the Hill." We didn't get that way being like everyone else.”

DNC chair praises socialism as future of party.

In an interview on the Bill Press Show, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez claimed that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist running for Congress, is “the future of our party.”

http://dailycaller.com/2018/07/03/dnc-chair-socialist-ocasio-cortez-is-future-of-our-party/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIriGu5dtHM

What do Democrats have against ICE?

Maybe it’s just on social media—Democrats and Socialists wanting to get ride of ICE.

“Operation Broken Heart was set up by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, which partnered with ICE and its Operation Predator.  The criminal sweep occurred during March, April, and May.

In addition to the 2,300-plus arrests, Operation Broken Heart led to the identification of 195 offenders guilty of child pornography or child sex abuse, and the identification of 383 child victims of child pornography or sexual abuse, reported ICE in a statement.”

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gavi-greenspan/over-2300-suspected-child-predators-arrested-through-operation-broken

ICE is actually protecting children—leftists are throwing them to the wolves.

Declaration of Independence

If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.... The beauty and cogency of the preamble, reaching back to remotest antiquity and forward to an infinite future, having lifted the hearts of millions of men and will continue to do.... These words are more revolutionary than anything written by Robespierre, Marx, or Lenin, more explosive than the atom, a continual challenge to ourselves as well as an inspiration to the oppressed of all the world."
-- Samuel Eliot Morison
(1887-1976) Rear Admiral USNR, Naval historian

A clinger not a climber

“A woman protesting U.S. immigration law attempted to climb the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July. She did not get very far. She refused to come down until “all the children are released.” But her pledge held up about as well as her climbing abilities. Headlines screamed of a woman scaling the Statue of Liberty. When a climber does not reach Lady Liberty’s ankles, the said climber becomes a said something else. Call her a demonstrator, an activist, or Lady Lunacy. Don’t call her a climber. Climbers climb. This lady just held onto the base of a statue for a long period of time.”

American Spectator, July 5, 2018

A prayer for Independence Day from the Lutheran Prayer Book

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. We give You grateful thanks on this anniversary for the priceless blessing of liberty that with Your help was won for us by our ancestors. Stir up in us a new appreciation for the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness we enjoy in this land of the free and a greater readiness to serve our nation with our talents. Teach us, above all, to treasure that precious freedom of conscience and worship, without which other liberties would not long survive. May we never contribute to the loss of those dearly won blessings by our own selfishness, ambition, or indifference. Teach us furthermore, O Lord, that the enjoyment of freedom brings the responsibility to serve. Make us willing to respect the laws of our country, exercise faithfully our privilege to vote, and give our loyal support to all public institutions. Bless all those in authority. Grant wisdom and faithfulness to those in positions of leadership. Preserve them from becoming the prey of selfish pressure groups and give them willingness to serve the interests of the public. Grant enduring peace to our country and its institutions, so that Your Gospel may be able without hindrance to turn the hearts of all from the bondage of sin to the freedom won by the blood of our precious Redeemer, Jesus,  in whose name and for whose sake we ask this. Amen

My new dryer

Last summer we’d decided we needed to replace our washer-dryer in the basement of our lake house, however we were waiting for the summer of 2018 since we’re not here much after August.  This week we have our niece and nephew Dan and Joan Poynter with us, and he can fix anything, so after looking at the platform and the way the appliances were placed, he thought we could support 2 full size instead of 2 apartment size (more expensive and don’t do as well) if he rewired the outlet and bought longer hoses for the washer. The washer is ancient, but works fine, a freebie from our neighbor about 5 years ago when he was replacing his.

So all four of us went to Sandusky to shop yesterday (we not only put our guests to work, we take them to the best tourists spots!). We were looking for the scratch and dent, but only found one—$250 for a full size dryer—but it was gas not electric, and another more expensive model which was over $600 even on sale. We went to Lowe’s and Home Depot, and finally to ABC Appliances where they “sell for less” and they sold us an Amana for one dollar less than the Home Depot price—$377.  Most of the other makes and models were $500-$800.  Fortunately, Joan had snapped a photo of the tags at the Home Depot, so she had proof, and did the negotiation for us. It was loaded into the van and home we went. It was about a two hour adventure, but then another two hours for Dan in the basement.

Bob and Dan weren’t sure that there was enough room on the platform, so they also bought some wood to extended it, cut to the right size at the store since we didn’t have a power saw.  (As it turned out, the feet on the dryer were a little recessed, so the extension wasn’t needed, but it’s there.)

Of course, you don’t just buy a dryer—we also needed to buy new hoses for the washer, new venting for the dryer, new wiring for the outlet, rent for a dolly (that was to remove the old dryer, and the next day we went to a neighbor’s to get the old one down), plus two doors had to be removed.  We probably have about $550 invested in a dryer I’ll use 10x a summer.  The basement stairs are not standard, and rather dangerous.  I sat on the porch not wanting to listen to the grunting and groaning.  Oh, and Dan also fixed our basement light so I can see now. Today he’s going to install a fan in the guest bedroom. Let this tale be a warning if you ever come to visit us in Lakeside!!