Native Americans and belief in lost tribes of Israel by American Jews

I’m not sure when I first heard of the Lost Tribes of Israel, it was years ago and never part of my faith tradition,  but I think it was in connection with the Mormons.  https://claudemariottini.com/2006/02/17/the-mormon-church-and-the-lost-tribes-of-israel/

This article at Jewish Learning traces the belief that Native Americans were descended from the Jews dispersed in the 8th century BC by the Assyrians to a 17th century Dutch Rabbi, Manasseh ben Israel who wrote The Hope of Israel (1650). https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/native-americans-jews-the-lost-tribes-episode/  The article doesn’t mention Mormons, but speculates what this belief did for both Christians and Jews.

“The Lost Tribe theory had significant symbolic stakes — for Jews, Christians and Native Americans. Linking America and its earliest inhabitants with the Bible and its theology, meant staking a claim on America–and championing God’s plan for the New World.”
Here’s a copy of the 1650 text in English. http://olivercowdery.com/texts/1650hope.htm

Cold case solved through DNA

Dan Flynn of American Spectator reports in today’s email:

“Middlesex County, Massachusetts, authorities solved a half-century old murder-rape case through DNA. The news chills in that on Saturday I drove on the street where the murder took place and walked with my kids where the victim skated with a boyfriend just prior to it. Everything looked pretty peaceful in 2018. In 1969—not so much.

In the years since Michael Sumpter raped and murdered 23-year-old Harvard University grad student Jane Britton, Sumpter raped and murdered 24-year-old Mary McClain and raped and murdered 23-year-old Ellen Rutchick. We discovered all this after his death. The authorities did convict him of a 1975 rape on a woman (Do you think he regretted not murdering her?). But then the administration of Michael Dukakis allowed him out of prison on work release in 1985. Guess what he did. Yes, he escaped the program and raped a woman—two years before Willie Horton did something very similar. In 2000, the state let Sumpter out of prison because he suffered from cancer. He died 13 months after his release, presumably without raping anyone else.

How marvelous that the authorities can use technology to solve cold cases. Too bad they cannot use common sense from preventing them from happening in the first place.”

According to the DA press release: https://www.middlesexda.com/press-releases/news/dna-used-identify-man-responsible-1969-murder-jane-britton

“Sumpter had been convicted of committing the stranger rape of a woman in her Boston apartment in 1975. Mr. Sumpter died of cancer at the age of 54 in 2001, 13 months after he was paroled from his 15 to 20 year sentence for this 1975 Boston rape.  In 2002, after his death, Sumpter was identified by another CODIS hit in connection with a 1985 stranger rape of a woman in Boston committed after Sumpter escaped from work release.

Since his death, DNA testing and the CODIS database identified Michael Sumpter in connection with five sexual assaults, three of which involved the murder of the victim.”
No mention in the press release of the work release program that put him on the streets to rape and kill more women.

Photo of Mr. Sumpter in 1968 file: https://www.middlesexda.com/sites/middlesexda/files/news/michael_sumpter.jpg

Statement from Britton’s only surviving family member on forgiveness:

Statement from Boyd Britton, released by request on his behalf by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office: 

A half century of mystery and speculation has clouded the brutal crime that shattered Jane's promising young life and our family.  As the surviving Britton, I wish to thank all those -- friends, public officials and press -- who persevered in keeping this investigation active, most especially State police Sergeant Peter Sennott.  The DNA evidence match may be all we ever have as a conclusion.  Learning to understand and forgive remains a challenge.
 
The Rev. Boyd R. Britton+ Vicar Anglican Church of Our Saviour Santa Barbara, CA

Trump on Twitter

I’ve been looking for a link, but haven’t found it.  While I was listening to Michael Medved today (conservative talk show host on pop culture) I heard him say that President Trump has 56 million followers on Twitter, but someone surveyed the followers and 21% self identified as liberal and 17% as conservative.  He didn’t go into the other categories.  Medved speculated that some people just enjoy feeling outraged and that may be the motivation for some of his followers.

From a non-profit employee who walked away

“I was raised in a Republican, conservative home and usually voted the way my parents voted but all that changed when I began working in the non-profit, human service sector. Our funding, (my paycheck), relied on tax dollars and grants and it was much easier to get and receive both from Democrat controlled administrations. Whenever an election rolled around, the talk around the office was always the same - "Better vote Democrat or there goes our funding", or "If Republicans get in, our program may be eliminated and we'll all be out of a job."

Few words of concern were spoken about the people we were supposed to be helping and what would happen to them. It was always about us -directors, administration and support staff. Then, one day, I realized why. Our programs weren't really helping anyone, in fact, the opposite was true. Our programs of "assistance" and "aid" weren't helping anyone actually CHANGE their lives for the better. All we did was help them stay in the lives they were in. When people did manage to pull themselves out of poverty and no longer needed our services, did we celebrate? On the surface we did. We acted happy for them, but privately, quite the contrary. We panicked because our numbers were falling. And if our numbers kept falling, our funding could be decreased or the program could be eliminated entirely. We needed poor people! We needed a lot of them and we needed them to stay poor or else WE'D be poor, and that wasn't an option. After realizing the cycle of poverty and dependence we were covertly perpetuating and encouraging, I no longer wanted to be part of it.

When Democrats control state and federal governments, the number of people living at the poverty level increases because their system is set up that way. They wrap themselves up in the American flag and say they care about the "people", the downtrodden and the poor, when in reality, they want to control them by fear. Fear of losing their welfare check, food stamps, housing assistance, heating assistance, childcare assistance, SSI payments, Medicaid, and all those nice support organizations they have come to DEPEND on. It's a smokescreen, it's bogus and I wanted no part of it. I quit the human service sector and found employment elsewhere.

That was my ah-ha moment - when I saw the Democrats’ dirty little secret when it involved "The People". Over the next decade, I found myself splitting my ticket, voting for both Republicans and Democrats, because I was still rewiring my thinking process. But when Donald Trump ran, I knew I had truly come home, back to the Republican way of thinking. It felt good, it felt right, and I will never consider myself a Democrat again.”

Sue Stauffer Johnson at Walk-away

My summer of 1958, part 5

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 for the story about why I was living on my grandparents’ farm in 1958, the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college.  The diary also covers problems with the water, my menus and cooking, disagreements with my grandparents and my social life. Transcribed from my diary!

I’d forgotten so much of this, and yet, not much has changed in my personal interests and activities and Grandma and Grandpa been gone for over 55 years—1963 and 1968. The signs were there in 1958 for my future career as a librarian, I just didn’t know it then. Even the topics of my publications in the 1990s when I was a librarian at Ohio State university—the journals and books and their stories—I was holding the raw material in my hands in 1958. "A Bibliographic Field of Dreams," AB Bookman's Weekly for the Specialist Book World, in 1994;   "A Commitment to Women--The Ohio Cultivator and The Ohio Farmer of the 19th Century," Serials Librarian in 1998; research on home libraries , spanning two farm family collections for the years 1850-1930.

The diary begins on June 1, 1958 with Grandma and I having a long talk—some of which I probably knew before. I recorded other conversations too personal to repeat. Who but me would remember now she had a baby named Glenn Oliver who died at birth?   I wrote down that Grandma and Grandpa met in college in Mt. Morris, Illinois, in the 1890s when both belonged to the same boarding club.  She was raised on a farm near Ashton, Illinois, and graduated from Ashton High School;  he was raised on a farm near Dayton, Ohio. Both had a financially comfortable life, being younger than their siblings, and enjoyed travel, reading and hobbies—hers was painting, his was bicycles. I’ve often wondered if he’d ever met the Wright brothers whose home and bicycle shop were in Dayton.  They were members of the same small religious group (German Baptist Brethren, later called Church of the Brethren).  They had gone their separate ways after meeting in college—she returned to the farm to take care of her sick mother, and he and his brother had gone on an adventure west, teaching school in the Dakotas and working as lumberjacks in the northwest. Because her father was able to support her, she told me, the local school board would not hire her as a teacher, but she continued with art lessons and “did the books” for her father’s numerous farms.

 
The farm home near Englewood, Ohio where Grandpa grew up, one of 9 children.

The boarding club where my grandparents met at Mt. Morris College. She is back row far left, and he is front row far right

I loved learning family history, and Grandma and I talked a lot that summer.  By attrition, sixty years later I’m the only one left in the family who keeps track. I have a genealogy software program, I’ve written several family stories I distribute to my cousins and siblings, a family cookbook, and in my own house, I still have many books and clippings and even some clothing that belonged to these grandparents.  There will never be another home for them since there is no one to pass them on to.
June 5: “After supper dishes I straightened things and cut a fresh bouquet.  Then I looked at old books, clippings and pictures until 11.  I sure found some interesting things.” (Grandma had a parlor for clipping articles out of her journals, and a large walk-in closet with special shelving for her journals dating back to the 1890s.)

June 6: “Grandma and I talked after dishes.  She still worries about Clare (son who died in WWII), whether or not she had tied him down.”. . . “Browsing the tool shed I found agricultural books over 100 years old, also an English grammar from 1850.”

June 24: “Mom came down about 3 p.m. while I was straightening Grandmas’s  magazines.  I drove our car to town  . . . I had a letter from Lynne. . . The water is fixed so I took a bath and read some journals and went to bed.”

Also in my diary are a lot of visits with the neighbors in the evening, especially the Jaspers (both of whom died within the last two years in their 90s), and I learned from their stories about their pasts and families.

Another interest still strong 60 years later is all the letters I mentioned in the diary. Going to the post office each afternoon, then opening my mail at the drug store was a special treat noted often in the diary.  I had several letters a week from my boyfriend who was attending classes in Minnesota, letters from college friends, and even a few from friends living just 20 miles away.

June 11: “ I walked into town (Franklin Grove) to look at the library.  It is pretty nice for a small town.  I got the mail, had a wonderful letter and bought a coke.  Very nice afternoon.”

June 15: “After dishes I wrote letters, studied Spanish and read Good Housekeeping. . . After supper I wrote more letters and read to page 38 in Don Quixote, which I think is a very dull book.”

June 16: “I got a letter from [boyfriend] intended for his parents and one from [another boy I’d dated at Manchester].  I mailed 6 letters.”

June 23: “I walked into town and got 4 letters.  I read them in the Drug Store. . . wrote to Richard (son of Uncle Leslie and Aunt Bernice) after dishes and read and listened to the radio.”

I still do a lot of correspondence, now mostly by e-mail—some of the same people I visited with or wrote to that summer. In the 1990s, I compiled all the “real” letters I had from parents, siblings, cousins and friends and excerpted all the  items about the holidays from Halloween through the New Year and called it “Winters past, winters’ post.”  These letters recorded the ordinary events of our lives to the faint drumbeat of the cold war, the civil rights movement, space flight, the VietNam war, political campaigns, Watergate, economic growth and slowdown cycles, the rise of feminism, employment crises, career changes and family reconfigurations. On and on we wrote, from the conservatism of the Eisenhower years, on through the upheaval of the 60's, the stagnation of the 70's, then into the conservatism of Reagan/Bush in the 80s. National and international events are rarely discussed in these letters as though we were pulling the family close into the nest for a respite from the world's woes. When my children were about 35, I compiled from letters to my parents, all the cute, wonderful and strange things they’d done or said.

I also saved letters from others, and at various life events, bundled them up and returned to sender. Others did the same for me.  In 2004 four years after Mom's death I received a bundle of letters my mother had written to her cousin, Marianne in Iowa.  For about 30 years I saved all the Christmas/holiday letters we’d received from friends and family, and just this past year we said good-bye.

A patriotic immigrant—not waving the flag of the country of his birth

“I grew up in communist Cuba. I remember standing in lines to get food and my mother holding her little card that allowed for our rations.

My father Raul came to this country with my mother and sister in 1977. I remember how Newark airport smelled. We moved in with my aunt, oh yeah, we were legal immigrants. My father was a CPA in Cuba, a proud man. My mother was a homemaker. When we immigrated, a social worker came to our apartment. She wanted to make sure my sister and I were in school.

My mother got a job in a factory. My Dad worked 3 jobs. I never saw him except on Sunday’s when we watched the Yankees or the NY Giants. My father spoke to the social worker. She explained  “ entitlements”. She explained  “ Food stamps “. My dad asks her, “ how do I work for the food?!” She laughs at him. , “ oh no! Mr. Diaz, they are free...”.

My dad looks at her, I never forgot his gaze, he said : “ Ms. Do you know where I came from?! Cuba! A communist/ socialist country. Where free food was never free. It was a form of slavery. I came here to work for all I have. I will not accept socialism in my life again!” He never accepted any “free” anything. All we got , we earned.

My father went to school at night after 3 jobs. He earned his CPA firm he still owns. My sister became a CPA as well. I have two Masters Degrees. My sister and I have 1st generation kids born here in the best country. My sons: one a micro biologist. The other working on PhD. The other will be applying to medical school. My sister : her daughter is an attorney, the other an engineer. No entitlements. Work hard. No affirmative action.

Immigrants are great. Just come here legally. Work for what you want. Don’t use race as your excuse. Thankful to this country.”

Marti Dias-Domm from the Walkaway Campaign

Turkey is good for more than naps!

“Because most cuts of turkey provide valuable amounts of protein, turkey is often regarded as a high-protein food. Skinned turkey breast will provide the most protein per serving, at 34 grams in 4 ounces. But you will still get 31 grams from 4 ounces of turkey leg and 21 grams from 4 ounces of turkey thigh.

In addition to protein, however, turkey is also rich in other nutrients. All B vitamins are present in turkey meat, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, folate, biotin, and choline. (Because the biotin content of turkey meat is sensitive to the turkey's dietary intake, the amount of this vitamin can vary greatly, with an approximate average of 0.8 micrograms in 4 ounces of turkey breast.) Turkey is excellent for vitamin B3 (niacin) and provides over 13 milligram in 4 ounces, or over 80% of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI). It's also a very good source of vitamin B6, at 0.92 milligrams in 4 ounces (54% DRI). By providing 22% DRI for choline in 4 ounces, turkey also ranks as a good source of this B vitamin.

In terms of minerals, turkey is richest in selenium and provides over 60% of the DRI in a single 4-ounce serving. Zinc, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and iron are also provided by this food in noteworthy amounts. “

Read more about the benefits of turkey. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=125#healthbenefits

Orange is the new Blue

Dan Flynn of the American Spectator observes in an e-mail, November 19, 2018

I went with Oliver North to one of his speeches in Orange County in the mid-1990s shortly after his loss in the Virginia U.S. Senate race. Back then, it struck as every bit the home of John Wayne. A local children’s patriotic group—yes, such a thing existed—surreally sang various up-with-America songs in red-white-and-blue garb. Someone said a prayer. The gymnasium—I think it was Chapman University—overflowed.

Orange County looked like a time machine a quarter century ago. Orange County looks like a time machine now. So, it’s the same, only different. Back then, Orange County travelled in a way-back machine. Today, the locals set the DeLorean to sometime in the near future.
The county once synonymous with Reagan conservatism just elected six Democrats to represent them in Congress. Prior to election day, four Republicans and two Democrats represented the county in Congress.

Not too long ago, such right-wingers as Bill Dannemeyer, Bob Dornan, Col. John Schmitz represented the county in Congress. When Schmitz was asked why he joined the John Birch Society, he answered: “I wished to identify with the moderate wing of the Republican Party in Orange County.” John Briggs, perhaps the most bombastic of the county’s local politicians, won reelected to the state senate throughout the 1970s. Richard Nixon called Orange County home.

Dana Rohrabacher could not even win reelection here in 2018.

Times change. So do demographics.”

Increasingly, only rich Democrats can afford to live in California.  The conservatives are moving to Arizona or Texas or Nevada.  Unfortunately, some liberals are moving out too because of the atrocious taxes—and they pollute formerly red states.

The missing and dead in Mexico

This time the "disappeared" may be the result of drug and gang violence rather than Marxism.

"Some 37,000 people in Mexico are categorized as “missing” by the government. The vast majority are believed to be dead, victims of the country’s spiraling violence that has claimed more than 250,000 lives since 2006. The country’s murder rate has more than doubled to 26 per 100,000 residents, five times the U.S. figure."

Trump's enemies say we have nothing to fear from our porous borders, that he is demonizing the Mexican people. No, he is not.  But the people living in sanctuary cities and Latino neighborhoods definitely have something to fear from this element.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/its-a-crisis-of-civilization-in-mexico-250000-dead-37400-missing/

“Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world, and the situation is getting worse, a lot worse. According to a recent World Bank study, over the past two decades nearly every region in the world has grown safer or at least stayed the same, except, that is, Latin America.  Latin America holds eight percent of the world’s population but suffers 40 percent of the world’s homicides and 60 percent of the kidnappings.  The murder rate in Latin America is 26 per 100,000.  In Europe it is nine.”

http://www.coha.org/violence-in-mexico-and-latin-america/

And the clowns and Democrat/Socialist politicians on this side of the border are blaming I.C.E.?

“The issue of organized crime in Mexico has really evolved – it’s no longer only drug trafficking groups but also gangs with other origins,” says Rubén Salazar, the director of Etellekt. Many gangs now make money by robbing freight trains and extorting money from civilians, both of which increase the potential for violence, as does another recent criminal trend in Mexico: the illegal extraction of oil, or “huachicoleo”, a phenomenon that has gone up by 790% in the last five years, according to state oil company Pemex. They say a pipeline is illegally tapped somewhere in the country every 90 minutes. People siphon off oil, transport it and resell it, employing and implicating large numbers of people in criminal networks in the process. “

http://time.com/5324888/mexico-violence-murders/

Does anyone ever read the corrections of misinformation about President Trump?

The New York Times has now issued a formal correction of the error in the North Korea editorial it published last week.

The Times correction reads: "An earlier version of this editorial incorrectly said that President Trump's special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, has yet to meet a North Korean official since his appointment. Mr. Biegun has met several senior North Korean officials, but he has not held working-level talks with his designated North Korean counterpart, the vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui."

Jim Acosta and President Trump

Acosta wasn’t asking a question at the press conference that ended in a shouting match; he was grandstanding and giving an opinion.  Eventually Trump had his press pass pulled, (but not all CNN’s other 150 staff) from White House press conferences, which are not about freedom of the press, but about invitation.  Trump could just stop giving these interviews, except he loves confrontation and trolling the media.  It gets him more publicity and his base loves it.

It looks like temporarily with a law suit, CNN may win this round.  Trump should have just hacked Acosta’s computer the way the previous President did for reporters he didn’t like or who were getting too close to the truth.

Sharyl Attkisson can tell you a bit about how reporters were treated under Obama.

https://sharylattkisson.com/2018/11/15/the-computer-intrusions-up-at-night/

What would happen if I wanted entrance to the White House and demanded a press pass because I’m a blogger?  Must be discrimination because I’m a woman.

Politics and religion going public

“Were I to launch into a sermon on the upcoming presidential election, my email box would short-circuit from the deluge of opinions many would need to communicate. However, because this sermon is on the life of Meister Eckhart, chances are good that when it comes to email I'll receive nary a byte. Face it, theology fails to generate the same temperature of heated discourse as politics, despite the admonition against bringing up either politics or religion on a first date.

On the other hand, were these the Middle Ages, the ceaseless subject matter of CNN or Fox News would be the moods and moves of God rather than the latest exploits of kings and princes. In medieval Europe, where earthly life was precarious and death the daily dread, the life to come was the only life that warranted debate.”

You can read the rest of this interesting sermon on Eckhart,  but I really chose this part because of its truth on speaking out and the dangers of writing about politics and religion.  So few people are passionate these days about religion that if you have a belief or opinion about the nativity, baptism, end times, or communion few will challenge you because they may believe all ways lead to God, or all truth is what I say it is.  Politics, however, especially if made public can get you fired, lose friends, destroy relationships, or even get your home attacked by Antifa, as Tucker Carlson found out (and he’s not even a Trump supporter but has spoken out about the D.C.  “elites” in his latest book, “Ship of Fools.”)

• Are you pro-life?  That used to be a religious issue, but is now such a hotly debated topic on heartbeats, selling baby parts and tax support, good friends best not discuss it.
• Marriage?  That also used to be a religious issue, but divorce and infidelity were the morality topics.  Not now.  It’s about baking cakes and fixing floral arrangements, and whether you can lose your business for being on the wrong side of Democrat party politics.
• Gender? God created man and woman used to be a debate about long day, short day, and whether this Biblical story was myth or fact, and now it’s about transphobia and your first amendment right to not only have a religion belief, but freedom of speech.
• Pronouns for God? Feminists used to rail about the masculine pronouns used in the Trinitarian Godhead,  or in traditional hymns, now we can not even use the pronouns he, she, him, her in ordinary discourse or writing!

So yes, it’s far safer to blog or Facebook about religion—it’s just that liberal politics have been co-opting religion so picking a topic is dancing in a mine field. 

Random internet truth

“Saying you believe in science rather than religion is like saying you believe in screwdrivers rather than democracy. Science is a tool and nothing else, it's literally just recorded information. It isn't a belief system that contradicts religions. You can be a completely rational minded and logical person and still hold religious views. They don't conflict, in times they can even complement each other.”

I didn’t bother to look up who or what he was responding to, but this comment was at Agnus Dei performance on YouTube performed by the Choir of New College of Oxford, conducted by Edward HIGGINBOTTOM. VOL. I, recorded in New College Chapel-Oxford-England, January/April 1996.  So those beautiful boy sopranos would now be 22 years older, in their 30s or early 40s, scattered in various careers, or countries. And the music (this one played over 9 million times since uploaded in 2012) plays on.

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

“The Choir of New College Oxford is one of the most celebrated and acclaimed choral groups of the UK. When William of Wykeham founded his ‘New’ College in 1379, a choral foundation was at its heart, and daily chapel services have been a central part of college life ever since. The choir comprises sixteen boy choristers and fourteen adult clerks; the latter a mixture of professional singers and undergraduate members of the college.”

“New College Choir was the first in Oxford to launch regular webcasts of choral services – to offer choral services to all who are unable to be in chapel.   One service is selected for webcasting each week, and listeners will find choral evensongs as well as major festivals and the annual carol services. The webcast services are recorded live, with minimal post-production editing; so listeners will be participating in a ‘live’ experience, as if they were sitting in New College Chapel.   

The music is offered not as a concert, but as part of the chapel’s tradition of Christian worship. “ http://www.newcollegechoir.com/page/?title=Webcasts&pid=10

Sunday message from the Presidential Prayer Team

One day C.H. Spurgeon was walking through the countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were the words: “God is Love.” Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weather vanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.”

“I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. The sign is indicating a truth. Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.”

Hopefully, you know that to be true for you. As life’s ups and downs have assailed you and your family, surely you’ve learned the steadfastness of the Lord – that His love and presence has endured for you and grown in your heart. Now think about America. It’s been through wars, attacks from without and violence from within. Politicians and their agendas have come and gone. What has remained constant? God’s goodness and His care and purposes for the nation. Thank Him for His faithfulness to America and toward you. Give Him your unending trust and praise!

https://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/

Bishops disappoint, but Pope even more so

“The annual Fall Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which took place in Baltimore earlier this week, was a disappointment on many levels. Yet there were also moments of light and strength coming from a good number of bishops. They spoke with clarity, acknowledging the seriousness of the crisis both in terms of the need to bring some semblance of justice to the victims and of the faltering credibility of the Church. Some even made the forbidden connection of the crisis to active homosexuals in the priesthood. Still others lamented the collective silence on sexual morality, wondering how many bishops and clergy do not believe what the Church teaches.”

Even if he [Pope Francis] were to say, “I made a serious error in judgment and I ask the mercy and forgiveness of God’s people,” many people would do so, even if with sadness. Instead, the Pope has declared that he will “not say one word on this.” Even worse, he subsequently referred to those who have asked for answers and investigations as “a pack of wild dogs,” “scandal-mongers,” and “those in league with the Great Accuser.” This is no way to treat God’s faithful. . .”

Full article in National Catholic Register. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/the-pope-owns-this

Roy Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018)

Charles Aznavour wrote "Yesterday when I was young," my favorite recording of Roy Clark, who died this week at 85. Clark was a popular Country Western star, yet this song was a "cross over" and one of his most popular recordings.  We used to watch Clark and Buck Owens on "Hee Haw" and occasionally using Roku find a channel replaying the early years of that popular show.

"I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out,
I never stopped to think what life was all about
and every conversation I can now recall
concerned itself with me and nothing else at all."

Aznavour died just about six weeks ago at 94.  His last live concert was September 19, 2018.

Clark singing it when he was young. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEY4LxORCeo

And when he was old. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfnUIC2-1q8

Aznavour singing it. . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEjoVg07rIE

Mike Huckabee wrote in his newsletter today: 

"Those who worked with Roy Clark remembered him fondly as a kind, generous, friendly and humble man, always smiling and appreciative of others’ talents.  That decency shone through to TV audiences, as well. Clark once said, "A TV camera goes right through your soul. If you're a bad person, people pick that up. I'm a firm believer in smiles. I used to believe that everything had to be a belly laugh. But I've come to realize that a real sincere smile is mighty powerful."

He may be best remembered as the longtime host of the cornpone comedy series, “Hee-Haw,” but fellow musicians were in awe of his talent on multiple instruments, particularly banjo and guitar.  He could play just about anything, as he proved on stages from Branson, Missouri, to the Grand Old Opry, to the Boston Pops, Carnegie Hall and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow, where he was one of the first American entertainers to perform in the Soviet Union."

What a sore, sour loser! Stacey Abrams

“This is not a concession speech,” Ms. Abrams said, delivering a fiery speech to supporters saying the voting process was poisoned from the start by Republicans — and in particular Mr. Kemp, who had been secretary of state until he resigned after the election.

He led by 60,000 votes, well over the number needed to avoid a run-off.  If every time a black and/or female candidate loses and she cries foul, what happens if there are two black candidates?  Doesn’t someone have to lose?

Considering Abrams’ socialist stance and Georgia’s traditional conservative views, Kemp should be embarrassed that his lead wasn’t greater.

https://amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/16/brian-kemp-wins-georgia-governors-race/

NPR snarked that African Americans fought “only decades ago” for the right to vote and is playing fast and lose with history.  That was 50 + years ago and it was the Democrat Party that had special rules for blacks to votes, like counting beans in a jar.  If any election season showed why every voter needs to have ID it’s what has happened in Florida, Texas and Georgia. The Democrats are still acting as though blacks aren’t smart enough to follow the rules.  These recounts with people trying to figure out the “intention” of the voter are ridiculous.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/668753230/democrat-stacey-abrams-ends-bid-for-georgia-governor-decrying-suppression

How disgusting!

After riding four miles on the cycle at the Lifetime Fitness center I switched to the treadmill.  Because it was Saturday, it’s a bit more crowded than usual and almost all the machines in that row were busy.  So I’m moving along at 2.5 mph reading my JAMA when I hear someone blowing her nose—a very juicy, sick as a dog, sort of sound.  I looked to my left and saw a very thin blonde woman blowing her nose on one of the towels that are provided for showers by the gym.  Oh yuk!  Although I would not be surprised if a guy were doing that, I’d never seen that behavior from a woman.  Or was she?  I looked again.  Hard to tell.

A little Thanksgiving humor

From my November 25, 2013 blog entry.

The U.S. government has just passed a new law called: "The Affordable Turkey Act..." declaring that every citizen MUST purchase a Turkey this Thanksgiving, no later than Thanksgiving itself, Thursday, November 28th, 2013. These "affordable" turkeys will cost an average of $430 -$545 each. This does not include stuffing, cooking pots, meat thermometers, hunting fees, feather plucking fees, a stove or other device used to cook it in, meat cutters, “removal of innards” fees, labor costs resulting from losses caused by passing out after eating yourself sick of turkey [i.e. 1lb dark meat = appx. 2 lbs white meat in estimated labor losses felt by your employer].

This law has been passed, because until now, typically only wealthy and financially responsible people have been able to purchase turkeys during Thanksgiving. This new law ensures that every American can now have an "affordable" turkey of his or her own, because everyone is "entitled" to a turkey during Thanksgiving. If you purchase your turkey before Thanksgiving, you will receive 4 "free" pilgrim vests; not including frequent dry-cleaning fees.

In order to make sure everyone purchases an affordable turkey, the costs of buying a Thanksgiving turkey will increase on average of 250-400% per year. This way, wealthy people will pay more for something that other people don't want, still can’t afford, or haven’t enough space in their stomachs or people in their home to eat it all. But to be fair, people who can't afford to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving will be regularly fined and children (under the age of 26) can just eat their parent’s turkey until they turn 27; then they must purchase their own turkey for Thanksgiving. If you already have a turkey, you can keep yours (just kidding; no you can't). If you don't want or don't need turkey this Thanksgiving, you are required to buy one anyhow. If you refuse to buy one or can't afford one, you will be regularly fined $800 until you purchase one, or face imprisonment. Failure to eat the turkey this Thanksgiving will also result in fines. People living on the beachfronts; ghettos; inner cities or areas with no access to grocery stores or hunting grounds are not exempt. Meat allergies, veganism/vegetarianism, PETA advocates, lack of knowledge nor desire to cook your turkey are unacceptable excuses for not eating your turkey this Thanksgiving.

A government review board (that doesn't know the difference between the turkey, duck, and bacon in a turducken will decide everything, including; when, where, how often and for what purposes you can eat your turkey, to include how many people you can share your Thanksgiving turkey with and determine if one is too old or healthy enough to be able to eat turkey. They will also decide if your turkey is acceptable to FDA or USDA standards or if you must purchase specific seasonings, condiments, recipes or other additions, (like a government issue can of cranberry sauce estimated at $25.00) or a newer and more fresh turkey. Those who can afford turduckens will be required to do so...it's only fair.

The government will also change the name of the “wishbone” to the “hopebone” as they will be determining the full extent of your fortune in the event that you snap off the larger half of said bone. Failure to comply with these rules – such as continuing to call it a “wishbone” – will also result in fines and possible imprisonment.

Government officials are exempt from this new law. If they want a Thanksgiving turkey, they and their families can obtain turkeys for free, at the expense of taxpayers. Unions, bankers and mega companies with large political affiliations ($$$) are also exempt. If the government can force you to buy health insurance, they can force you to buy a Thanksgiving turkey....or ANYTHING else.. It really is that simple.

By: Constitutional Watchmen

Do non-citizens vote in U.S. Elections

This article was published in the journal Electoral Studies in 2014, and the authors wrote about their findings in the Washington Post, which because it is a liberal publication, had to post all the criticisms not in the comments, but in the paragraph preceding the article!

“Our best guess, based upon extrapolations from the portion of the sample with a verified vote, is that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of non-citizens voted in 2010.”  This received no where near the attention that the “Russia stole the election” meme did. But it would definitely change an outcome like the close votes we’ve seen in Arizona, Florida and George in the 2018 elections.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/could-non-citizens-decide-the-november-election/?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379414000973  Because this citation directs you to just a summary, I’ve included a link the the pre-pub, which is essentially the same thing.

http://ww2.odu.edu/~jrichman/NonCitizenVote.pdf

The important thing here is, it was published before Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015.