Guessing compliments will get you further than insults. Ya think?

  Use farther for physical distance, further for metaphorical.

Actually, none of us can survive without help at any age

 

“Every strong woman was once a helpless child.”

And we still are.  That part of our humanity doesn’t change, there are just degrees.  I don’t grow my own food or make my own clothes or drive a van that I put together. I’m much more helpless than my Ohio great great grandmothers who could manage chickens, gardens and trim a lamp wick and help the neighbors birth the babies.

The issue is life, not helplessness. At both ends of the spectrum.  I chatted with my friend Rosalie at the grocery store on Thursday who is the care giver for her 90 year old husband who can’t leave the house, or even the floor he is living on. His mind is good, but his body has failed him.  Take care—they may be after the unborn now, but they are also going after the ones who can’t fight back.

Watch out for POLST. http://www.cathmed.org/resources/polst/  POLST is spreading rapidly across the United States as a result of a concerted campaign by euthanasia advocacy groups, including Open Society (George Soros).

Who’s responsible for the immigration mess?

Not Donald J. Trump.

Remember how Obama blamed Bush for 4 years for the recession and then set out to make it worse? Slowest recovery since the 30s when FDR tried the same tricks with the economy. The “experts” are still trying to figure out what happened.  Along comes Trump who asks for 1/4 of what the Democrats promised during the last administration, who suggests a deal to correct the DACA executive order mess which Obama illegally foisted on us, but they are terrified to give him another win like he's done with the courts, the economy and the prison system.  This is not about illegal aliens, it’s about stopping Donald Trump’s second term.

How to handle a few inches of snow

When I was in college, there was no e-mail, and the dorms had only one phone to a floor, so we couldn’t even take messages from the college administration on how to handle a few inches of snow. It was just one of those things it was assumed we had learned from our parents who had lived through the Great Depression and walked to school uphill both ways in 6 feet of snow.

This is what Ohio State University sent out to the “campus community.”  I’ve been retired for 18 years, and I still hear from them.

“The safety of our campus community is our top priority. Please remember to take precautions while traveling in winter weather.

• Plan ahead and allow extra time.
• Check scheduled activities in advance to make sure there are no changes or cancellations.
• Dress appropriately for the weather (boots, hat, gloves).
• While walking, take it slow to avoid slipping.
• While driving, allow additional distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.
• Know your route and pay special attention to changing and/or declining weather conditions.”

March for Life, January 18, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XACCdre_tk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkrJawCk7J0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAmHrvlGflw&fbclid=IwAR0JxghEc500yyU0XHp7bZbDmKz0atpiUUDfZjHN6sqRyU80ODsef1LeUjU

I watched the very inspiring March for Life on EWTN. If you ever want to see REAL diversity, inclusion, multiculturalism and LOVE, that's the place to be. Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims, atheists, black, white, brown, men, women, children, teens, elderly, toddlers, in utero babies, politicians, bakers and candle stick makers. All united on one issue--life is precious, don't kill the most vulnerable, alone and helpless just because they are appearing at an inconvenient time, or are disabled, or are female.

The reason Democrats demand open borders is because we can no longer populate our own country. Families are the safety net, and now that government wants that job too they have to make sure there are bodies to fill those jobs to pay for their plan. Promote divorce, promote living together outside marriage, make sure women can't be fulfilled without being a wage slave, make sure she's paying off college debt for 2 decades so there's no time for babies and children, tell people there's no difference between sexes, so why even have sex, make women think they are both helpless and yet powerful. Perfect recipe for disaster.

And today the counter march--the feminists, Marxists, pro-abortion, government paid labor, elderly boomers--all marching to kill off the family, lower the birth rate, and destroy the nation. It will be promoted by the MSM because who needs people, anyway, to buy the lies?

We’re under a snow watch, but nothing is happening

Lucille Snodgrass, 1919-2019

I heard this week that Lucille Snodgrass,  the mother of my high school friend Nancy Snodgrass Falzone, had passed away.  She was living at Pinecrest in Mt. Morris, and we should all have a devoted daughter like Nancy—or even a good friend like my brother who visited her there.  Nancy and I used to ride horses together as children, so I remember Lucille and husband Bill who died in 1989 from their days on the farm on Mud Creek Road between Mt. Morris and Oregon.  I’d only seen her a few times in the last 50 years, but my memory of her is a sweet, beautiful, charming, classy gal who was a lot of fun.  I think her passing is the last of the “mothers” that I knew since the 1940s-1950s. I wrote this poem over 20 years ago,  after so many of the women I knew had died, although there were some, including my own mother, who were still alive.

The Mothers of Our Childhood
by Norma J. Bruce
February 20, 1997

I have filed a report
and sounded the alarm.
We are missing the Mothers:
They're nowhere to be found.

Strong women disappeared while
I was living away.
Perhaps a moment ago,
a year or a decade.

Housewife, retailer, artist;
teacher, farmer and clerk.
Secretary, volunteer;
No doctor, lawyer, chief.

Velda, Gladys, Marian, Mildred;
Rosalie, Rita, Rose, and Ruth;
Alice, Hazel, Ada, and Esther:
Born during the century's youth.

Finish this list of Mothers
while I go look around.
No, the veil closed behind them;
they're gone. We are alone.

When I searched her name, I found her wedding announcement on a genealogy page for the Freeport Journal Standard:

“10 Sep 1938 : Miss Lucille Moore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Irvin Roy Moore, North Henderson road, and William Snodgrass, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Snodgrass, Mt. Morris, were united in marriage this morning at 10 o'clock at the parsonage of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Mt. Morris, the pastor, Dr. C. H. Hightower, performing the single ring ceremony.
       The bride was dressed in a boy blue dress with Alencon lace jackette, and her accessories were navy blue.She carried a bouquet of pink roses.
       The attendants were Miss Betty Peterson and Ralph Satterfield of Mt. Morris.
       After the ceremony the bride and groom left on a wedding trip to Omaha, Neb., and Denver, Colo.The bride's traveling outfit was a navy blue taffeta ensemble with rust accessories. On their return they will reside with the groom's parents on their farm home near Mt. Morris.”

I know a little bit more about Lucille and Bill than the parents of my other friends because Nancy kept a book of memories, and when she was 69, she put it all together with photos, and made a number of copies, of which I am the owner of one. It includes a wedding photo.  Nancy wrote that her mom was born September 9, 1919, so  she  almost made it to 100—which seems to be pretty common in Mt. Morris.  In addition to working alongside her husband on the farm she also worked at the Conover Cable Piano Factory in Oregon, then later at the Mt. Morris Cleaners

She's finally put her family together

This is my high school classmate Ebba, and her family—in a puzzle which she has put together. She’s in the front row between grandchildren in a red sweater. [Facebook photo]

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were this easy!

 

Ebba's Jan. 6, 1964 wedding.  Jerry died in 2004. 

Rep. Steven King is being condemned

for defending Western Civilization.  The Republicans are actually the “stupid party” for letting the Democrats trap them.

The only white supremacists we’ve had in Congress were Democrats—like Robert Byrd, who was praised at his funeral/memorial by leading Democrats.  He actually was a member of the KKK, as was President (former Senator) Lyndon Johnson.

Democrats’ agenda on abortion kills more blacks in 4 days than their terrorist lynchings did in 80 years.

Jennifer, mother of 5, has lost friends. . .

She was always a Conservative, always a Christian, and enjoyed friends from  many different lifestyles, until . . .

“I always found a lot of fulfillment in having open conversations with people unlike me- and enjoyed growing and learning from all new perspectives, upbringings, and cultures and religions- it made me proud to be American and felt it embraced free speech and thought.

I became so disheartened over the past few years as it became obvious those kinds of conversations could no longer be had by my many of my friends and family that ran along a more left or liberal leaning line- since voting for Trump I have lost two of my lifelong best childhood friends - friends that were like sisters for 25 years or more.  I was devastated to be called a bigot and a racist and worse- a fake and hypocritical Christian simply for my conservative beliefs- and the told we could no longer be friends.   I was in shock.  Even though I never supported Hillary,  it didn’t even occur to me to end friendships over someone else’s difference in opinion or political views.”

I feel your pain, Jennifer. [from her Walk Away post on Facebook]

The 100th day

At this private Christian school in Indianapolis the children (I think it’s first grade) celebrate their 100th day by decorating t-shirts.  And they are all ours!  These beautiful dumplings are the grandchildren of our niece Joanie who teaches at the school.  That makes them our great grand nieces and nephews—or whatever you call the great grandchildren of your sister in law. Halli, Kalli, Jaxson and Anthony.

Orwellian pleasantries

I’ve been cleaning off my desk this morning, tossing old church bulletins, returned Christmas cards with the wrong address,  articles to read printed from the internet on crime statistics and nutrition, pieces of Fritos and cookies, and came across a quote I had jotted down while reading the website Priceton.org.

“Whenever one hears the dreaded Orwellian pleasantries ‘diversity,’ ‘tolerance,’ or ‘inclusion,’ one knows that another of one’s fundamental, democratic liberties is about to be rescinded by the revolutionary guard of progressive orthodoxy.”  Harley Price.

I think I’ll keep that one and use it when I return a request to review a book or interview an author.  Sounds better than “Are you kidding me?”

Pelosi and Trump squabble

“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed," the president wrote the speaker of the House of Representatives. “We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate.”
She attempted to embarrass Trump with her demand he postpone the address to the nation because of the shut down,  and there wouldn’t be enough security, so he grounded her flight for the same lame reason.
But also she over uses her “free flights” around the world.
We usually have ABC on in the morning when Bob eats breakfast to keep track of the weather, which breaks in with local coverage, but I tell you, the bias and junk we get from broadcast is about as bad as CNN. If they keep using the word “bombshell” to describe every tidbit from Buzzfeed and Politico, they become the child who called wolf. They are working overtime not only to impeach Trump but to disenfranchise everyone who voted for Trump by declaring 2016 invalid.  That puts Nancy in the President’s seat.

The True Minimum Wage

“The Democrats seek to more than double the federal minimum wage. “A $15 federal minimum wage affirms the bedrock idea of fairness in our country: that hard work deserves a decent wage,” Speaker Pelosi claims. But as Milton Friedman pointed out, “The true minimum wage rate is zero—the amount an unemployed person receives from his nonexistent employer.”” Dan Flynn

Only 2.9% of American workers are earning minimum. and most of those live in households well above the poverty level, because they aren’t the primary earner.  So this is nothing but posturing, most low income families would reduce their hours rather than lose the government benefits like SNAP, Section 8, Medicaid.

Leftists attack minority female—Trump pick

Neomi Rao, a 45-year-old Indian-American, has become the latest target of liberal activist groups and media smears, including BuzzFeed News, CNN, Mother Jones, Alliance for Justice, and Lambda Legal.

No one is safe from these vultures.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/01/16/the-left-attacks-trumps-pick-to-replace-brett-kavanaugh-for-her-smart-college-writings/?

“Take the example of Rao’s 1994 op-ed in The Yale Herald, headlined “Shades of Gray,” where she did indeed write that if a woman “drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice.”

Activist groups are twisting this line to suggest Rao believes it’s women’s fault when they get raped, but that’s not what she said at all.

Rao wrote firmly that men should be prosecuted and held responsible for rape—not once, but twice, in case the point wasn’t clear.

“A man who rapes a drunk girl should be prosecuted. At the same time, a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober,” she wrote.”
Makes sense to me.  Women shouldn’t get drunk and men shouldn’t assault drunk women.

Drugs at the border, report of 2016

“Over the past several years, the nation has seen an uptick in the use and abuse of opioids—both prescription substances and non-prescription substances such as heroin. The estimated number of individuals who had used heroin was 914,000 in 2014. Further, about 586,000 individuals (0.2% of the 12 and older population) had a heroin use disorder in 2014. In addition to an increase in heroin use over the past several years, there has been a simultaneous increase in its availability in the United States. This has been fueled by a number of factors, including increased production and trafficking of heroin—principally by Mexican criminal networks.”

“Mexican transnational criminal organizations are the major suppliers and key producers of most illegal drugs smuggled into the United States. They have been increasing their share of the U.S. drug market—particularly with respect to heroin. The United States still receives a large portion of heroin from South America (primarily Colombia) and, to a much lesser extent, Southwest Asia. In order to facilitate the distribution and sale of drugs in the United States, Mexican drug traffickers have formed relationships with U.S. street, prison, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. Although these gangs have historically been involved with retail-level drug distribution, their ties to the Mexican criminal networks have allowed them to become increasingly involved at the wholesale level as well. The bulk of heroin smuggled into the United States transits across the Southwest border. From 2010 to 2015, heroin seizures in this area more than doubled from 1,016 kg to 2,524 kg. This trend mirrors the increase in overall seizures throughout the country. Further, there has been an increase in federal arrests and prosecutions of heroin traffickers. In 2015, for example, the Drug Enforcement Administration made 6,353 heroin-related arrests. In addition, U.S. Sentencing Commission data indicate that from 2011 to 2015, the number of individuals sentenced for heroin trafficking offenses in U.S. District Courts increased by nearly 50%. “

Heroin Trafficking in the United States, by Kristin Finklea, Specialist in Domestic Security, August 23, 2016

Is Donald Trump your President?

What happened on the way to economic recovery? Was it Obama?

https://www.bostonfed.org/news-and-events/speeches/2016/after-the-great-recession-a-not-so-great-recovery.aspx   This is the link to the summary, and you can open the text with a click.

Shortly before the 2016 election there was the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's 60th Economic Conference, with president Eric Rosengren exploring what went wrong in the recovery from the recession.  Technically it was over by June 2009, and Obama’s goosing the economy with payouts to special interests and bail outs hadn’t even gotten out the door.

Without ever getting to the heart of it (I personally think it was Obama’s personality and negativity that caused workers and investors to hold back with a wait and see attitude) Rosengren lists

changing demographics

falling labor participation

higher savings rate (imagine complaining that people were holding on to their own money and not buying stuff they didn’t need)

low inflation

even when full employment returned, the economy was sluggish

low federal funds rate

treasury rates low

price to earning ratio for stocks were low

rents were low

rapid appreciation in commercial real estate

capitalization rates were at historic lows

Conclusion:  Recovery was mostly bad news and it may be the new “normal.”

Hmmm.  Maybe not Mr. Rosengren.

Data on employment

I don’t know why, but Mercer County Ohio seems to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state, 2.4. It’s on the Indiana border, which seems to have a lower unemployment rate than Ohio, and did all during the very slow recovery. The highest unemployment rate in November 2018 was Monroe County, at 7.1. It is located on the eastern border of  of Ohio, across the Ohio River from West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was only 14,642, making it the second-least populous county in Ohio. If you want to be alone, this is your county--the county averages thirty-three people per square mile. Major employers are the county government, the schools and nursing homes.

I found this by looking at “Local Area Unemployment Statistics Map” of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and clicking on Ohio, then placing the cursor over the various counties which were shaded according to unemployment rates, with the lightest color being the least unemployment.  https://data.bls.gov/map/MapToolServlet    From there you can go to https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045218 and type in the county name in the search window for more facts about the county.

Since I’ve never applied for unemployment I do wonder why some counties that are high are right next to counties that are low, but generally those counties in Appalachia are higher than the counties next to Indiana. Poor transportation?  Low education rates?  Monroe’s graduation rate is 87.9 and Mercer’s 92.7—both above the national average.  Health insurance?  Monroe County has 7.8% who don’t have insurance, and Mercer 5.6%.  Both counties are over 97% white.  But the poverty rate in Monroe is 15.2 and Mercer is 6.9, and disability is much higher in Monroe, 13.7 compared to 6 for Mercer.

See?  Even with the employees furloughed, there’s a lot of information out there from the U.S. Census.

I got a compliment

on my research skills and a question on how did someone from academe ever become a conservative! And I responded:

“ I was completely apolitical until about age 55—when my husband went into business for himself and I had to start paying attention to silly things like taxes and insurance—something the state of Ohio had always done for me. I was the perfect state employee—rarely asked how Ohio  was going to meet all those pension obligations that paid 2 or 3 times what Social Security does. And frankly, being a Republican isn’t that much fun since we elect such wimps and liars!  Being a self-righteous Democrat was much nicer.  Did you see where Ohio’s Republican governor (until 2 weeks ago) has taken a job with CNN?  Just infuriates me.  What a turn coat!!!  Right now I’m using my research skills on “growing older with health and vitality.”    I think we’ve attended 6-7 funerals in the past 6 months. We called a good friend Sunday to find out why we didn’t get a Christmas card,** and he told us his wife now has Alzheimer’s.  She always handled that stuff, and he now has diabetes and congestive heart failure.  This getting old is getting old . . . .  But occasionally there’s something interesting on our group list to respond to.”

**These days, when we don’t hear from friends or relatives, we know it’s because of Trump, but we knew this guy’s politics so figured it was something else.

As far as being an academic, yes, conservatives are a dying breed on campus because “you dance with the one who brung ya’.”